Scarlet Lily
by Kuugen the Fox
Summary: If someone has the chance to do everything over, but is forced to let history run its course for the bigger part, how will she act? Two people face a challenge unlike any before—the challenge to alter history to prevent the world from ending.
1. Destruction & Reconstruction

**Scarlet Lily**

Epoch I

_Destruction & Reconstruction_

The destruction swept across Fiore in a manner no one anticipated.

A small group of individuals had successfully freed Zeref, the single most evil wizard known in history—but Zeref had annihilated them, along with most of the fighters present. Nothing could be done; most of the Ten Wizard Saints had been killed in the final battle to prevent Zeref's resurrection in the first place.

Hope was entirely lost now. Zeref had gotten a hold of the ancient artifact known as Elena's Mirror, a powerful mirror said to grant the owner power equal to the desires in his soul. With the mirror, the world was at his feet—and he trampled upon it.

Pergrande, the mighty kingdom to the far east of Fiore, fell in a single night. Taking the country as his own, Zeref advanced with his demonic troops against the rest of Earth Land. The inevitable destruction of Fiore came closer with every passing day. Mages, sorcerers, warriors, mercenaries—everyone who could fight took up arms against Zeref. But it was to be a futile endeavor.

Fairy Tail and Magnolia, having just barely survived the events in Edolas, an alternate world, found the war in full motion. There was not much left to do. They joined the forces of Fiore, a massive army of mages and sorcerers, and stood united against the denonic army.

But the fight was in vain. Zeref himself led his troops against the remaining countries, and Fiore's border was set ablaze with fire that seemed to burn away the light of the day, the shine of the stars, and the glow of the moon. A spreading fire that would never cease to burn.

Zeref wanted to make an example of the foolish humans who had once imprisoned him for ages. Fiore was chosen as the land of death, a country surrounded by fire, slowly starving itself and bleeding out.

Fairy Tail had been mostly wiped out in the battle. Even the mighty dragon slayers were powerless before the monster that was Zeref, the dark wizard. There were only a few survivors, and those had been spread across the land. Among the not even dozen who got away with their lives were two of the former strongest of Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet and Mirajane. Their lives had been saved by the sky dragon slayer Wendy Marvell. Wendy was hopefully alive somewhere in Fiore, but neither Mirajane nor Erza knew for sure. They had been separated in the chaos of the fight after Wendy had saved them. She could literally be anywhere.

Fiore was a land of ashes and destruction now. Towns were ruins and graveyards, rivers were polluted with a never-ending amount of blood, the sky was permanently darkened by clouds so thick that not a single ray of sun could penetrate it.

Life was hard and cruel now. Despite Wendy's magic, Mirajane had lost her right eye. The magic ban Zeref spoke over the land reduced their magic abilities to a minimum. The former glory of being an S-rank mage was now history. It was a daily struggle to survive in these lands. No one knew if it was due to Zeref's magic or simply the harsh life, but people had grown evil, greedy, and egoistic.

The old, the weak, and the defenseless were all abandoned or killed. Robbing one's fellow countryman was a daily occurrence. People took the food of others, leaving them to starve and die, so they could live a day longer. They took the little water they could find and slaughtered whomever dared to take from the small supply kept safe. The world had become a truly horrible place.

In the beginning, Erza and Mirajane had refused to become like them, to bow down to the harsh rules of reality. But in time, hunger, thirst, and the instinct to survive led them to abandon their morals.

Their friends killed, their guild destroyed and lost, the world in chaos and darkness. A world without hope. It was a place one could only try to continue living for a little longer. To endure the dark sky for one more day. To go on, despite there being no hope of ever leaving these lands.

Erza and Mirajane never stayed long in one place. They were still much more powerful than most people. They took what they needed by force, regardless of the victim's identity. It had been three months since Zeref attacked Fiore—for three months they had to fight every day for something to eat and little to drink.

Erza stepped over a couple of fresh corpses. Corpses from which blood was still dripping from her sword. Mirajane was flying a few meters above her. She was still able to utilize her Satan Soul body takeover.

Zeref's servants had been seen in this area recently, and even they had to eat and drink. It was a welcome change from having to kill fellow countrymen for a daily meal.

"Mira, do you see anyone?" Erza's black armor was bloodstained and dirty. There was no time or material to clean or repair her armor.

Mirajane turned around once more and flew a bit higher. There was nothing but scorched earth, ruins, and fields of corpses everywhere. They could still feel whether it was day or night, however. At night, the temperature of the lands dropped dramatically, often going below freezing.

"Nothing at all. We'll have to make do with what we have." Mirajane descended and stepped next to Erza. "What did they have?"

Mirajane's eye was cold as ice. She had locked away her kind and gentle nature deep, deep inside her mind. It, and she, would have died out here. This world was no longer a place for the old Mirajane.

"We're out of luck. They had literally nothing except a little bit of dry bread. They would've starved to death soon." Below Erza's feet was a pile of at least eight dead bodies, none of them old or very young. All were formerly healthy and strong men. The children and the elderly, and most women, had died weeks ago.

"Let's take cover in the basement of that building over there." Mirajane pointed to an abandoned building that looked like it had once been a mansion or a church. They still had to search the ruins for things they could use or eat.

Mirajane changed back to her normal body. She had changed her clothes for a durable set of leather boots, long pants, and a tight top over which she wore a sweater.

As they walked the little distance to the appointed hideout for the night, Mirajane and Erza were very quiet. Despite the silence, they had grown much closer than they'd ever been before over the last three months. One helped the other survive. One trusted the other with her life. Everyone else was the enemy.

They walked down the stairs, Erza still in her armor. They never knew where the next ambush might come from. And while Mirajane was constantly using up magic when using Satan Soul, Erza was a lot more cost-efficient.

Having secured the basement, they moved a few empty barrels into a corner to create a sort of wall against the cold that would soon sneak up on them.

Now that she knew the location was safe, Erza changed into something civil. It was an outfit very similar to Mirajane's—long black boots, trousers of thick cloth, and a sweater. Erza grabbed a few chairs and some other wooden furniture and threw them all into a pile. A fire at night doubled if not tripled the odds of one's survival through the night. They had been lucky so far.

Most of Erza's armory was gone and replaced by functional things. Only few armors and weapons remained. However, Erza had had a thick fur jacket in her armory by the time Zeref laid Fiore to ashes. She always shared it with Mirajane as something like a blanket.

Erza materialized a big bag they used to store food. It was, like most of the time, almost empty. Right now they had some bread and a handful of raisins. Erza broke the bread in half and handed Mirajane a piece. The raisins were their emergency ration.

Erza's greatest worry was that one of them would get sick. If it happened, they promised each other to end it quickly. There was no chance to survive in this world when one fell sick.

Deep down, though, Erza knew she would not be able to go on alone. Mirajane had become more than her single most trusted companion over the past three months. Erza very much loved Mirajane, but she never said so. She knew it would only complicate things when surviving was already a hard enough task.

They had a few bottles of water they had taken from a shelter they plundered nearly a week ago. The people there were all desperate for help and hope. They recognized Erza and Mirajane as members of Fairy Tail and begged them for help. But they were beyond help. Half their group was sick and injured, and none of them were fighters. They were people from Magnolia.

The only thing left to do was to put all of them out of their misery, quickly and painlessly. Erza had had terrible nightmares about that event for days. If Mirajane had any, though, she hadn't shown it.

Mirajane took a small gulp from a bottle and handed it to Erza, whose brown eyes glanced at Mirajane's lips for a second before taking a rejuvenating sip of water. They had to be very strict and sparing with their water. One could go without food for a few days, but without water…

After that, Erza broke most of the chairs and other furniture down into smaller parts while Mirajane hummed a melody from past days. Soon they had enough material to burn. And Erza had the amazing ability of always waking up when the fire had to be given more fodder to keep going.

Mirajane watched the strong knight from behind, leaned against a wall. Even like this, covered in dirt, her hair and hands bloodstained and wearing those ugly clothes, Erza still looked at Mirajane with passion. Mirajane was not that dense. She had long noticed that Erza had developed feelings for her. And so had Mira for Erza.

Mirajane thought it was natural. They only had each other and Mirajane was actually thankful that Erza felt the same way about her as she did about Erza. And Mirajane knew very well that telling Erza would temporarily give them a little bit of happiness. But in doing so, many problems would arise. Erza's character was, well…it was better to not tell Erza of her feelings. She would do things they couldn't afford anymore.

They both secretly looked forward to the night. It meant they could snuggle up with each other, enjoy the other's warmth without actually committing to any sort of relationship that could complicate their situation.

It took Erza a few minutes to get a fire going, but she managed it. After getting the big fur jacket Mirajane had remodeled into a warm blanket from her armory, Erza sat down next to the white-haired woman.

"Where did we leave off yesterday?"

It was a daily ritual. Before they slept, they would sit together and tell a tale. About what they would've done differently in their lives. They didn't kid themselves. They knew that eventually they would be killed, starve to death, or become sick from malnutrition.

"We never started. You've been arguing with me for the last three days about whether or not we knew what was going to happen." Mirajane smiled a little. Erza had not changed much. Her strict morals were gone, and she was trimmed on survival, but she was still Erza.

Both of them talked about the past a little, what they would have done differently. It was maybe half an hour before Mirajane fell asleep. Erza moved her a little to the side, so even if she leaned the other way, she would still lean against the wooden barrel. The red-haired woman was so close to Mirajane that she could feel her breath, thought that she could hear her heartbeat.

"I really wish we had a chance to do things over…"

Erza fell into a light sleep that was disturbed by the campfire's need for more wood and, occasionally, rustling sounds. The night was colder than it had been any night before. Erza woke up multiple times, she and Mirajane both shivering from the cold. Erza threw some more wood onto the fire and then grabbed Mirajane, pulling her so close towards herself that their shoulders and cheeks were touching.

But even that night passed, and both of them woke to the sound of people wandering about in the ruins above them.

Erza was up, had trampled out the fire, and changed into her black, bloodstained armor in a matter of seconds. Mirajane changed as well, taking on her demonic appearance. Whoever was up there, they had possibly food and water and maybe something useful.

Erza took a sneak peek outside from the basement, careful not to be seen. Five people, all men. They looked tough but not like mages. Her best guess was that they were bandits. They seemed to be passing through. They were talking amongst themselves and Erza tried to hear what they were saying.

"Five. My sign," Erza whispered to Mirajane, who was hiding below her.

There would be no questions, no demands. Only a short skirmish, and a few more dead bodies. The acceptance of killing had come after only a month. It was not a choice. If Mirajane and Erza took their food and water to survive themselves, those men would starve and die of thirst. Putting them out of their misery quickly was their way of showing mercy.

"There's a rumor about a ridiculously powerful sorceress in the west, near the ocean. She's said to grant you a new life if you pay her," one of the men said to another.

"There's nobody left around here who could pay her anything," another man answered.

"She's also said to heal the sick and injured."

"They say she's a little girl."

They fell quiet after that, busy with indecent thoughts. They were very close to the ruin Erza and Mirajane were hiding out in.

"Now," Erza whispered, and jumped out in the same second.

Maybe two seconds more passed before she had taken off the head of the first man. Blood sprayed everywhere. The other four screamed in terror, and took up their weapons—sticks and rusty swords. Mirajane had already passed them. She approached them from behind and broke the neck of one of the men with her claws. She strangled another with her tail.

Erza followed up with a clean cut. Not even twenty seconds had they needed to kill five men. Mirajane remained in her demon form, and Erza stayed armored. They searched through the belongings of the corpses and got lucky. They had several loaves of bread and a few bottles filled with water. Erza quickly stowed away everything. Besides that, there were only their clothes, the useless weapons, and a few coins and rings that were worth nothing.

"They talked about a powerful sorceress in the west. A girl that heals people…"

Erza thought the same thing Mirajane did—that girl could be Wendy. If they could team up with her, at least the threat of sickness would vanish.

"Mira, can you fly high up and make out what direction west is?" Erza didn't bother cleaning her swords or armor. They had enough food for over a week now, and water too. Not counting whatever they would find by going west.

"Leave it to me." Mirajane ascended high in the air, at least fifty or sixty meters. She had always had a good sense of direction and she remembered some landmarks here and there. After going down, she pointed in the direction the men had come from. "West is that way."

Mirajane had just transformed back when a loud shot suddenly echoed through the ruins. Erza's face filled with horror as she turned to see Mirajane drop to the ground, bleeding from her shoulder.

Erza spotted the attacker in a matter of seconds. There was a sixth man, and he was armed with a gun.

The man's face contorted with excruciating pain when Erza attacked him, her eyes full of cruelty and contempt. She brutally hacked off his hands and left him there to bleed to death.

When she dashed back to where Mirajane was, Erza picked her up and brought her back into the basement to look at her wound. The bullet was deeply embedded in her shoulder.

Erza remembered what they had promised each other. In a case like this, the other one would give the sick or wounded one a quick death, to avoid suffering.

But Erza couldn't do it. She couldn't even think about it. It was absolutely impossible for her to consider killing the only attachment to this world she had. Erza hit the wall so hard that dust fell from the ceiling. "_Dammit!_"

Erza had materialized one of her light armors and was ripping out some cloth from it when the white-haired woman came around from the pain of the wound.

"What are you doing…Erza…" Her voice was so weak that Erza felt like crying. But there was no time for that.

"I…can't do it." Erza's voice shook, and her body trembled. She had always thought that she could deal with this if it eventually happened. But now that the harsh reality was before her, and it was such an impossible task.

Erza left for a few minutes, just to return with a small clay bowl. It took her a few minutes to get the campfire going again. She filled the bowl with water, then used two of her swords to keep the bowl in place over the fire so that the water would boil.

She then materialized a small dagger from her armory and ripped out more cloth from her armor. Erza made sure to disinfect it before using it to cleanse Mirajane's wound. The former S-rank mage endured the pain, knowing what Erza was going to do.

After Erza cleaned the wound, she disinfected the dagger and ripped out a third piece of cloth. She wadded it into a ball and gave it to Mirajane to bite on.

"Please endure it…" Erza said, and started to use the dagger to remove the bullet from Mirajane's shoulder. A lot of blood came from the wound, and Mirajane would have screamed her lungs out from pain if not for the cloth knob in her mouth.

It took Erza a while. The bullet had been deep. Still, she managed to take it out.

Mirajane passed out as soon as Erza threw away the bullet. Erza undressed and changed armors, using most of the clean cloth to bandage Mirajane's shoulder. Despite the fire and her thick clothes, Mirajane was shivering with cold.

Erza would have done anything to keep Mirajane alive. She hugged the woman and sat closer to the fire, and Mirajane's shivering stopped after a few minutes. Mirajane came around a few times, but only for moments, each time making attempts to talk. And each time Erza stopped her.

"Don't die…don't die. Mira…"

It seemed like hours until Mirajane regained consciousness and stayed awake.

"Give me a little rest…and we can go." Mirajane was pale, but able to stand and speak. She had lost a lot of blood, so Erza gave Mirajane her own portion of supper without the woman knowing.

An entire day and night passed like that. If Mirajane survived the cold night, there was hope. Erza had never believed in God, but she prayed the whole night that Mirajane would recover and the wound wouldn't get infected.

The next morning came, but Erza's stamina was depleted. Her prayers had not been heard. After checking on Mirajane's wound, there were signs of infection. Erza felt like someone was grabbing her heart and trying to rip it out of her chest. She had lost so many friends, so many comrades. Her whole guild was gone, and now even Mirajane was being taken from her.

"Just put me out of my misery." Mirajane knew that she wasn't going to make it. She could feel her shoulder, but she didn't know for how much longer. The wound wasn't going to heal. It would become worse, and eventually she would die from it.

"I'm gonna take you to that healer in the west," Erza said firmly, refusing to give up hope.

"That's only a rumor, Erza. Listen, I—" Mirajane was grabbed and lifted up before she could even finish her sentence. Erza was still strong enough to carry her. Wrapping the fur blanket around Mirajane, Erza carried her on her back.

"I can't go on without you," Erza finally said, making sure that Mirajane couldn't see her face.

There was a long silence.

Erza started walking west, only taking breaks every couple hours. The night came and they hid from the cold in a small cave. Erza cut down a small tree to make firewood. Mirajane didn't feel well. The infection had worsened. Erza tried to suppress her panicky feelings, but it didn't work.

She had no idea where exactly that rumored healer mage was, only somewhere at the coast. She could only pray that she had enough time to get there and somehow pay the mage to heal Mirajane.

"Erza…" Mirajane crawled up and leaned against Erza, grabbing Erza's arm. If she was going to die anyway, then she would do so without regretting the last few moments of her life. "I know how you feel about me."

Those words…Mirajane would never have said them if she didn't know she was going to die soon. From all the effort Erza was going through, Mirajane figured that Erza would not go on alone. She would die with Mirajane. In that case, there was no pain in telling Erza what she felt.

"Mira, what do you—" Erza tried to deny everything, but was shocked when Mirajane kissed her all of a sudden.

"I don't want to die without ever having kissed you…" Mirajane said, and closed her eye. She knew she wouldn't live another three days. "I'll wait for you on the other side. With everyone else."

Erza immediately felt a wave of panic overwhelm her. "Don't say that. I'm not going to let you die. Who else do I have beside you? _Mira!_"

"I know you like me. I don't know whether it's only been since Fiore was devastated by Zeref, but I feel the same way. I love you, Erza. I don't want either of us to die without knowing that." Mirajane felt really weak, so her voice was a little broken.

Erza picked up the injured woman and started walking much faster than before. "I am not going to let you die. You're right. I do love you, Mira. That's exactly why I'm going to save you."

But the gods were against her. The black clouds were as thick as ever, and despite the cold, Erza never stopped walking except for little breaks to eat and drink. After two more days of nonstop walking, their reserves had dwindled to just a bit of water and no food.

Erza was starving, and so was Mirajane. Mirajane's wound had gotten really bad and she was hot with a fever. Erza was close to despair. She had seen the ocean from a hill, but it would still take half a day by foot to get there. And then she had to find that mage.

It wasn't much further to the coast. Erza could already smell the saltwater. She passed one last hill, and then her eyes fell on the ocean.

She had seen a lot in her life, but this…it was a scene she had only seen in nightmares.

The dark clouds stretched indefinitely. In the distance were Zeref's flames, burning everything that tried to travel past them. But that was not the truly terrifying thing.

Right on the water, embedded in a cliff, stood a small castle built of red sandstone. But the true horror were the grounds around the castle. Corpses. More corpses than Erza could ever count. Stacked on top of each other, some piled as high as ten meters or more.

The stench of decaying bodies was overwhelming. Erza felt ill.

There were thousands—no, _ten_ thousands of dead bodies. No crows or other animals pillaged the corpses, giving the scenery a strange feel. And when Erza walked closer, she noticed that the castle was not made of red sandstone after all. The walls, the ground, the towers—they were drenched in blood. Was this the place the so-called healer called her home?

Erza had little choice but to go and find out, regardless of how much like a trap this looked like. In the worst case, she would die together with Mirajane.

Half an hour later, Erza walked past the gigantic piles of corpses. She felt like throwing up, but there was nothing in her stomach. Mirajane was unconscious the whole time, so she was saved from the unbearable smell.

There were no doors at the castle, but a single stone sign stood in front of the gigantic stone arch that was the entrance. Words traced with blood had been scrawled upon it.

_For ye who step beyond__these gates,__ it shall be known, a risky gamble you take. To pass the trial, and be made anew. To fail, and be lost __forever__._

Erza had a really bad feeling this, but no matter what the owner of this castle put her though, she would endure it.

When she stepped past the sign, something grabbed Erza, something powerful, invisible. A force that made her feel like she was flying. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, she could see that she was in a hallway.

The ground was made of some sort of black stone, and so were the many pillars seaming the walls. The sound of her steps echoed through the hallway. There was no sign of the entrance she had just seen. To transport someone like that…powerful magic was at work here.

Erza walked and walked, but there was no sign of the hallway ending. The castle had not been this big on the outside. The inside and the outside of the building must be located in different planes of space. But that was downright crazy…how would someone…?

"_The first trial._"

A woman's voice echoed through Erza's mind, and three doors appeared before the two women.

"_Choose wisely,_" the voice said.

The three doors. The left one was made of solid gold, and words were imprinted on it: _For ye to step through here, unimaginable riches shall await you._

The next door was made of marble. _For ye that step through here, unimaginable power shall await you._

The third door was as black as coal, and seemed to be made of some kind of wood. _For ye who step through here, ye shall be judged. For death or life._

Erza knew right away that riches and power were traps. This thing was called a trial? Erza stood in front of the black door and opened it. An invisible force hit Erza and the knight coughed up blood. It was like her internal organs had been smashed.

"_Lucky one, your sins weren't too grave. __Your punishment has been light,_" the voice said. Erza thought she heard traces of amusement.

"_Second trial._"

Before Erza appeared three people—a fat, wealthy man, a poor beggar child, and a relatively normal man who could have been a simple craftsman.

"_Kill the beggar and ye shall never be hungry again. Kill the noble and you __shall share the fate__ of his servants. Kill the craftsman and ye shall have the most beautiful house of all._"

This was another easy trap. Erza pulled her sword and slashed off the head of the noble in a single cut—only to scream out in pain when countless little cuts appeared all over her own body. Drops of blood speckled the ground while Erza breathed hard to keep standing.

"_Brave, brave. Now for your reward._"

Before Erza, three gates appeared. They were great stone plates, each with a vortex of magic behind it. The left gate had a blue vortex and was made of marble. On it was written _Reborn_. The right gate was golden, had a red vortex, and its words read _Rule the world_. The middle gateway was made of black granite, with gorgeous adornments and a black vortex. On it was written _Eternal peace_.

Erza was fooled at first. The left gate emitted a strange glow, and Erza was naturally drawn to it. She, after all, had no desire to rule the world. But she didn't want to be reborn yet. It would be the same as death. So the only real answer was…

Erza took a deep breath and braced herself for the pain that was surely to follow stepping through the gate of eternal peace, or death.

But there was no pain. All of a sudden, she was standing in a small hall, with a great pedestal in front of her. On it stood a woman.

The woman was tall—easily a hundred and eighty centimeters. Her hair was tremendously long, almost reaching to the ground. It was mostly silver-white, save for a few strands of black through the middle. She was wearing a simply cut and ornamented dark blue robe.

As Erza moved closer, she saw that the woman's eyes were indistinguishable from the darkness around them. But the most memorable feature was the tattoo on her forehead. It was a character Erza had never seen before, completely unlike a rune or a magic circle. It looked like a seven crossed with a gate.

"Wonderful," the woman said softly. "Not many ever manage to evade the three choices of Punishment, Suffering and Death. So tell me, what is it you desire?"

Erza was stunned for a second, then put Mirajane down before the woman and knelt down. "Heal her!" she said desperately. Mirajane surely didn't have much longer to live. "She was hit by a bullet and the wound got infected."

"This woman is beyond my grasp. Her fate in this world has already been determined. I am not willing to fight with the Guardian of Fate to bring her back. However…there might be another way for you."

The woman stood up and walked a few steps away. Each step echoed through the empty room. Now that Erza noticed it, there were no doors or windows or lights, yet the room was strangely somewhat illuminated.

"Do you like how things turned out?" the woman asked, and looked at Erza.

"Of course not! Zeref destroyed Earth Land! All my friends died! The person I love is dying! Who _would_ like this? But what can I do? Zeref is far beyond my power!" Erza was desperate for a solution to keep Mirajane alive.

"Then, should you like to do things differently?"

What kind of question was that? There was likely not a single person on the planet who would've done things the same way if given the choice. But this was too weird to begin with. "Of _course_ I would. I would do many things differently."

The woman looked at Erza for what seemed like a long time. "I am the Guardian of the Gate of the Past," she finally said. "My name is Syrnafir. I can send you back in time. But there are rules—rules you cannot break. If you do, be aware that I shall obliterate the entire timeline you exist on."

The woman called Syrnafir turned around and summoned a big book bound in black leather. It floated quietly in mid-air while the mage looked for a specific page.

"I like you two," Syrnafir said as she paged through the book. "I understand you two are in love?"

The question made Erza blush, which was a rare sight. Nodding, the knight knelt next to Mirajane. The white-haired woman was dying before her eyes. Erza felt so helpless—the same feeling of being powerless she'd felt when Zeref himself had wiped out hundreds of mages, whole guilds, and most of Fairy Tail.

"First, you shall keep your consciousness, but your body shall be of the appropriate time. Second, you cannot prevent fated events. You can alter them and their outcome, but they shall ultimately have to happen. Third, you cannot tell anyone that you are from a different time. Fourth, you cannot tell anyone of what will happen in the future. Fifth, you cannot abuse your knowledge of the future to gain wealth, fame, power, or to kill great numbers of people. Sixth, if you die before you reach twice the age of now, you shall be sent to hell for eternity. Seventh, you cannot kill yourself or sacrifice yourself."

The woman stopped reading from the book and it vanished just as it had appeared. "Those are the rules. Break any of them, and I shall terminate the timeline. Everything will return to nothingness. And be warned: to be sent back in time, to another time…you will have to die here. And not many can handle that pain. The mind of some breaks long before the pain stops, and without one's mind, the new body cannot live."

Erza had listened quite intently. "Can you send Mira back in time too? If her fate is to die, then it doesn't matter if she dies like this, right?" Erza was grasping at straws. She had no idea who or what she was dealing with. A mage so powerful that she could send people's souls or consciousness or whatever into another time? Why was such a powerful mage tolerating Zeref's rule?

"That should indeed be possible. But I will consult Fate first."

Erza was getting a little worried. Just…who was this woman? Consulting fate? This women talked as if fate were some kind of entity. But she _had_ called herself the Guardian of the Past…

Erza shook her head and tried to get a hold of the situation. This wasn't like her. It sounded like another trap. Outside were so many dead bodies…this person seemed oddly…benevolent in heavy contrast to outside. But what choice did Erza have? If it really was a trap, then so be it. At least she would die together with Mirajane.

But the woman was gone. Erza looked around. Where had she gone? There were no doors or anything in here, so where…

The same voice from before echoed through the room. "_Fate has agreed. Be warned__—__death to be put into another time is more painful than you can possibly imagine. Do you still want it?_"

Erza looked at Mirajane and then down at herself. If it meant seeing all their friends again, to be able to do things over, and to continue living with Mirajane…she would endure any kind of pain. She was confident about this. She had already suffered so much.

Erza shouted, "_Do it!_"

Nothing could have prepared her for the pain that followed her words.

Every bone was on fire, her flesh melted like she was swimming in acid, her skin turned into a black slime that chewed the flesh from her bones. Erza fell to the ground in a matter of seconds, rolling on the ground, screaming with unbearable pain.

Blood was in her throat, in her eyes, in her nose, everywhere. Her body refused to listen to her. A million, a billion needles were inside her brain, her fingers rotted away, and her heart was flooded with the black slime. She breathed pure acid and nails, blood streamed from her body and all over the ground. Her ears were full of her own pained cries and Mirajane's, who was barely a meter away from her. Her vision blurred red with pain and blood, and nails rammed into her head, her arms, her hands, her legs, and feet.

Her lungs burst and yet she was still alive. The black slime started to catch fire, she was burning to death. And finally, her heart exploded and blood filled her mouth. Erza was dead.

"_I forgot to ask how far back she wanted to go,_" Syrnafir said, her words echoing through the room.

It took a few more minutes before Erza's corpse had burned completely to ashes. Only a small scarlet crystalline orb remained. Mirajane's orb was half white, half black.

Taking both of them, Syrnafir unleashed her power.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Erza woke up with a booming headache. She immediately felt like throwing up. Her body burned and her mind was like a beehive full of explosive bees. She grabbed her chest and made sure her heart was still beating.

She was fine. She looked around and immediately recognized the room—it was _her_ room.

Erza pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It hurt a lot, and she felt a bit dizzy. She decided to test her magic, switching from normal clothes to armor. Everything seemed to work fine. Her armory was full of actual armor. There was no trace of the things she had kept there before. Her armors were untouched by decay, rust or blood.

The sky outside was blue and almost without clouds. The sun was shining; it was the middle of the day. Erza frantically looked for a calendar—three years in the past. Well, not quite three, upon a closer look. The date looked very familiar to Erza and she had a bad feeling—a _very_ bad one.

She left her room in a hurry, only to crash into Levy. Erza's eyes went wide. She had seen Levy die barely three months ago. Zeref's demons had virtually torn her apart. Erza could still remember the scene.

To see Levy alive and well felt so good. Erza wanted to hug the girl, to tell her how nice it was to see her, but she stopped herself. The rules! And three years ago Erza hadn't been all that friendly with everyone. She trusted the words of that Syrnafir woman, so she avoided acting out, even if it was painful. She didn't know what kind of chaos could unveil from even something small like this.

"Levy, have you seen Mira?" Erza remembered now that her mind was slowly clearing. This was the date Mirajane had gone on the emergency suppression mission with Elfman and Lisanna.

"She left for a mission a few hours ago. I didn't even know you were back, Erza." Levy was confused by Erza's unusual appearance. The usually calm knight was sweating and obviously worried and scared of something. This wasn't normal for her. "What's wrong, Erza? Is something wrong with Mira?"

"I can't explain it to you," Erza answered. She left Levy and ran out of the building. One of the rules was to never tell anyone that she was from a future where Zeref ruled the world.

She had to make it. She grabbed the fastest magic mobile she could find and rushed towards the town Mirajane had taken off to. She could still get there in time. This was the one thing Erza could not let Mirajane experience again. And even if Mirajane knew what was going to happen, she couldn't change it alone.

Levy was left behind, worried and confused. Cana joined her, alarmed by the noise Erza had made.

"What happened to you?" Cana touched Levy's shoulder, confused as she was. "Was that Erza who took off with the magic mobile?"

"She was totally agitated. I've never seen Erza like that, not in all the years I've known her. She asked where Mira was and took off without explaining anything. We should tell the Master. Something is wrong."

Erza drove the mobile to its limits. She could feel the magic being sucked out of her, but if necessary, she would give her life to arrive in time. She could already see the smoke from the town on fire. That was where Mirajane was headed.

Lisanna…Erza would not allow her to die right in front of Mirajane again. Erza was a fellow guild member and knew she could save Lisanna. If she only got there in time! Not waiting for anyone to pass, Erza almost ran over a few civilians. She could only think of one thing. _Hurry!_

The adrenaline cleared her mind and Erza was able to think while driving. What had happened? She was back in time, that much was clear. Erza could barely believe that it had actually worked. She had thought it another trick or a trap.

Erza recalled the seven rules the woman called Syrnafir had told her. She had to relay those to Mirajane as well. If she told Elfman or Lisanna about who she really was…! There were so many questions, so many things to think about that Erza's mind felt cluttered despite all the adrenaline. But for now, only one thing was important. To save Lisanna!

She could smell the smoke. She was almost there. "Please let me get there in time!"

Erza had only felt true panic a few times before, but this was the among the worst feeling she ever experienced. Seeing Mirajane die was already bad enough. She would never forgive herself if she was too late and Mirajane had to experience something traumatic like Lisanna's death all over again.

"_Let me be in time!_"

### Scarlet Lily ###

Mirajane had no idea what was going on. Why was she living through this again? The pain and the smell of smoke and blood told her this was all real. But how could that be? Before her was the monstrous beast, her brother, Elfman, after the failed Takeover. Next to her was Lisanna. It was all exactly like in her memory.

Everything unfolded like it was before. She was injured. And the beast was stomping towards them. Mirajane's mind froze. In a few moments, Lisanna would try to stop that thing, sacrifice her life. Mirajane felt sick. She couldn't do anything. Her body refused to listen. What in the world was this? What was going on? But…she did die. She died, and because she had killed so many people in Zeref's world, she had gone to hell. This was her personal hell. If she had died and was in hell, Erza had probably ended her life and had gone to her own hell.

"Lisanna, _don't!_ He won't listen, he won't recognize you! He's lost his reason! _You'll die!_" Mirajane screamed on top of her lungs, but Lisanna didn't listen. It truly was hell. She was doomed to experience the death of her little sister over and over and over, for all eternity.

The beast lifted his gigantic claw and was ready to kill Lisanna. Mirajane couldn't look, couldn't endure it. Not again, not a second time! The feeling of sadness she had experienced before…the sadness that was still lingering inside her, that had changed her. It was coming back, filling her mind, clouding her thoughts.

The roaring sound of the beast filled the air and he swung his claw. Lisanna could feel the impact. It was like a house had hit her. She was thrown to the side, sent flying. Mirajane's mind was frozen, but somehow she knew something was different. What was it? Lisanna wasn't flying far. Maybe two or three meters. She crashed into the ground and slowly got up, confused as to what had happened.

Mirajane watched the scene before her. Erza had stabbed the beast's enormous claw with her swords, blocking his attack. The beast howled in pain and blood streamed out of the wounds over Erza's swords and armor. Erza was as pale as a ghost, breathing heavily. The beast lifted his other arm to get rid of the annoyance before him.

"Mira! _Do something!_" Erza yelled and switched to her Adamantine armor, boosting her defense abilities. Using a magic shield, she blocked the monster's other attack and was now in a dangerous position. She drew out her swords from his right claw and prepared for the impact of another hit.

Mirajane had finally snapped out of it, gritting her teeth. "Lisanna, _get away from here!_"

So Erza had followed her, to wherever this place was. Erza being here gave her new hope. She would not left anyone die.

Gathering her remaining power, Mirajane transformed into her demonic form, Satan Soul. She flew right into the air, aimed at the head of the beast, and started firing magic energy beams at him. The impact was followed by the beast's scream. Erza had changed armors yet again to her Heaven's Wheel armor and pinned down the arm of the beast with countless swords.

"Mira!" Erza yelled and the demon knew what she had to do.

Flying behind her transformed brother, Mirajane started firing at him. "Darkness Stream!"

She felt bad for hitting him, but it was impossible he would die from something like this. The blasts forced the beast to his knees and Erza pinned down the other arm with her remaining swords. The beast was trying to get free, but under Mirajane's constant fire, it was nearly impossible to deal with Erza right in front of him.

Erza knew she had to somehow knock the monster out. It was worth a try. Changing armors yet again, Erza put her Purgatory armor on.

"Mira, keep him busy!" Erza yelled, and Mirajane started to circle around the beast's head, continuously firing at him. She was exhausted and wouldn't be able to keep this up for even five more minutes. The beast's arms were still pinned down by Erza's swords. Blood drenched the ground. Lisanna watched the scene with horror. The creature was no longer her brother or even human.

"Mira! I'm going to knock him out!" Erza knew she couldn't just slash him. Killing Elfman was the last thing she wanted to do. The Purgatory armor gave her an extreme offensive boost. If she could just…

Mirajane retreated from the beast, which was on its knees now, suffering from the many wounds in his arms and the impact of the many blasts from Mirajane. Erza roared and started running towards the beast with all her power. Jumping up, she looked right into the crazy eyes of the monster. With a tremendous impact, she hit the forehead of the beast with all her might.

The beast let out one final roar and crashed to the ground. Erza released her swords and was about to give the beast another hit when Lisanna stopped her.

"Stop it! He can't even move. It's okay now."

Erza didn't want to run into any risks. She didn't know to what extent they could change history. She grabbed Lisanna and they staggered away from the beast.

"Don't go near it," Erza managed to get out. She was suddenly aware of how tired she was. "He's still the beast. We have to…we have to wait for it to turn back into Elfman."

That was the last thing Erza could say before the exhaustion caught up with her. Falling to the ground on the spot, barely thirty meters away from where the beast lay on the ground, Erza lost consciousness from using magic way past her limit.

### Scarlet Lily ###

It was so bright. This light was so bright. She couldn't see. Had she died again? Was this heaven? Had she been rewarded for saving Lisanna? For doing a good deed? But…wasn't there a rule that she would go to hell if she died before reaching twice her age? If so, then where…

Someone moved to her side. Erza tried to turn her head, but as soon as she did so, her vision exploded into painfully bright colors.

"Don't move. You used up way too much magic; you need to recover." It was Lisanna's voice.

Opening her eyes a little bit, Erza found herself staring at the ceiling of a room. "Where are we?"

"My room. You saved my life, Erza. Thank you."

"I made it in time…thank God. It wasn't just a bad dream," Erza said, and finally noticed her whole body was aching all over.

"But how did you know we needed help? How did you know my brother had used a Takeover on the beast?" Lisanna was pretty sharp about these things. It would be a pain to explain them.

"I heard about the beast on my last mission. I heard it was only you three, so…I think I was a little worried. You're all guild members. And I couldn't see Elfman anywhere, so…" Erza tried to get up. Her mind exploded again into a lot of bright colors and for an instant she felt like throwing up, but she managed to sit up. Her head and her hands were bandaged.

Erza spotted Mirajane in a corner of the room, looking a bit suspicious and confused.

"Where is Elfman, Mira?" Erza remembered the fight.

"He managed to take control when we knocked out the beast. He's injured, though. We gave him a good beating. He hasn't come to yet."

Mirajane had no idea what was going on. Fear clenched Erza's heart. She had to tell Mirajane quickly before she said something weird and everything was gone.

"Lisanna, I need to talk with Mira. Can you leave us alone for a moment?" Erza looked very serious, so Lisanna looked from the knight to her sister and back and sighed.

"No fighting in my room!" she warned the two and left, closing the door behind her.

Erza signaled Mirajane to come closer, but the white-haired woman didn't need a sign like that. As soon as Lisanna had left, she moved right next to Erza and sat on the bed, hugging the woman she had come to love in their three months of fighting for survival together.

"I'm so thankful, Erza. Lisanna is alive. She _lives_. And Elfman will recover soon. But…what _is_ all this? Where are we?" Erza noticed Mirajane was wearing one of her old outfits, the ones made up of black and purple clothes. Erza herself was in her normal clothes, even though her head and her arms were bandaged.

"This is the past. Our past. I found the rumored 'healer'." Erza then told Mirajane everything she knew.

It took her nearly half an hour before she finished. She wrote down the seven rules they had to abide to. Mirajane could barely believe it. "So…we get to live our lives again?"

"Yes. And this time, Lisanna didn't die. The event of your mission was fated to happen, but not Lisanna's death," Erza explained, and saw tears appear in Mirajane's eyes.

Erza felt a little dizzy. She suddenly wanted to get back to her own room. She began trying to get up, and Mirajane helped her stand. "I…don't know how to thank you, Erza. I…" Mirajane was lost for words. Tears were now rolling down her cheeks.

"Mi—" Lisanna opened the door. Erza was standing there with her arms around the crying Mirajane, comforting her. Lisanna quietly left the two alone, thinking that Mirajane was just probably happy that nobody died. Lisanna herself was a little scared of her brother now. She would have certainly died if not for Erza.

But something was odd. Erza's story didn't make a lot of sense. If she knew the beast was so dangerous, why hadn't she gone with them in the first place? Maybe she had only heard later that Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna had taken that S-class request?

And Lisanna had never seen her sister cry before. And to see her in Erza's arms, crying like that…

Maybe she was thinking too much. Cana was looking after Elfman right now, and he was really distressed about what happened.

"Erza…what should we do? I want to be with you, now more than ever…but to suddenly tell people we're lovers…they'll become suspicious." Mirajane had calmed down a little but was still leaning against Erza, happy that the knight was holding her tightly.

"We shouldn't do that. I don't want to lie to them, but it is for their own sake. We just need to find a way to get closer…somehow." Erza's legs gave out and she would have fallen if not for Mirajane grabbing her and holding her up.

"I'll get you to your room," Mirajane said, and was a little confused when Erza declined her help and walked away alone.

"You should say something mean when I leave. That's what the old Mira would have done," Erza teased the white-haired woman.

"Not after what you've done. Thank you," Mirajane answered, smiling.

Out in the hallway was Lisanna. "Has my sister calmed down?" she asked.

Erza was a little worried that Lisanna had seen her sister crying in her arms, but…

"She loves you very much, Lisanna. Don't make her cry again." Erza smiled and patted Lisanna's head.

Lisanna was a little worried about those two now. They were different from before. But that wasn't a bad thing, right? Erza was nicer and more relaxed than before, and her sister seemed to be over her rivalry with Erza for the time being. Lisanna doubted that would be permanent, though.

Erza almost fell unconscious when she got to her room and lay down on her bed. "Lisanna lives…I wonder how much this will affect our future. Two years until Lucy joins…Juvia and Gajeel are still at Phantom Lord…Wendy at Cait Shelter. I hope we haven't changed history too much." With those words, Erza fell asleep.

It was a deep and dreamless sleep. When Erza was gently woken some time later, she opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. It was pitch black in her room. She was on her back, still wearing her clothes and bandages. Kneeling over her was Mirajane.

"Are you feeling better?" Mirajane had a worried look on her face. She hadn't had a quiet moment all day. To see Lisanna up and well was something she thought she would never see again. And thanks to Erza, it would remain like that.

"Yes. But Mira, what if someone sees you? What would they think you are doing in my room in the middle of the night?" Erza was still a level-headed person, but even she had to admit that she wanted to be with Mirajane.

"They're all sleeping. I'll be back in my room before they wake up." Mirajane was wearing a shirt that was way too long. It could have easily fit Elfman. It probably _was_ his.

Erza smiled. She had liked the kind and gentle Mirajane, but this one was much better. Without the trauma of Lisanna dying, Mirajane would have stayed the tough and wild girl she had been. Right now, Mirajane had to keep up this act. No doubt that Mirajane was happy that her sister survived, but the past events had left their mark. Mirajane needed to be the wild and tough girl, despite being different deep down.

Mirajane moved down and crawled below the blanket, feeling a bit cold. Erza didn't bother to switch out of her clothes and simply used magic to equip pajamas. It had been a while since the two slept in a real bed.

Mirajane took Erza's hands and held them tightly. They were happy to be alive, and even happier that they had successfully prevented Lisanna from dying.

"I want to change the future. I want to stop those things from happening. Most of all, we need to stop Zeref. But how much can we do without breaking the rules? We need to be careful. Maybe we should—" Erza was silenced by a kiss from the girl next to her. It was only their second real kiss, and Erza felt herself blushing. She had never really dealt with romance before.

"In a way…I think I would never have realized how happy I am with you if not for the circumstances after Zeref's attack. It's a bit weird…to like another woman, but I don't think the guild will be bothered." Mirajane smiled happily in the darkness.

"I never really thought about it…I don't think it matters if you like a girl or a guy." Erza was not very good at dealing with romance. But she felt safe with Mirajane. Much safer than she ever did with armor.

"I wonder if the date of Lucy joining will change. I was out on a mission when she joined…and right after, we had the problem with Eisenwald. Not much later, I took off to Galuna Island to bring back those three idiots who stole a S-class quest." Erza tried to get a rough grasp on the events that had yet to unfold. How much of it would happen as they knew it was questionable.

"I wonder if Phantom Lord will still attack us. I'm worried about Levy and the others, but after all, Juvia and Gajeel become members of Fairy Tail. And then…" Mirajane knew what was next. The event where Erza almost died.

"Gerard. I know what he is planning now. I know Shou and the others are alive. Don't worry, Mirajane, you'll be with me this time." Erza caressed Mirajane's cheek, reassuring her, but she was still worried. If they changed the past already, no one could tell how big the change would be.

"But that is years in the future. For now, we should watch out for any significant changes that saving Lisanna brings about." Erza rubbed her temples and yawned. "I'm going back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, Mirajane."

Mirajane nodded and waited like she was until Erza had fallen asleep before she left as quietly as she had come, making sure no one saw her.

Neither of them noticed the strand of blue hair outside the window. "I _knew_ there was something fishy going on. I have no idea what they talked about, but that Mirajane and Erza were into that sort of thing…!"

Levy was a little too excited about it and fell down from the tree she had climbed into spy into Erza's room, landing ruggedly on the ground. She had been awake at this late hour, doing research on a book in her room and caught Mirajane leaving her room through pure coincidence.

She wasn't sure whether she could tell this to anyone. Mirajane was famous for her temper and Erza wasn't to be joked with either. For the time being, Levy would observe. She was quite interested in those two.

But Levy was not the only one who had noticed Mirajane's nightly trip. Lisanna had checked on her sister after said sister had looked into her room to see if she was sleeping. And when Lisanna did, Mirajane was gone. When thinking about where her sister could be, Lisanna narrowed it down to a few rooms, and out of those, only Erza's had hushed voices coming out of it.

There was something fishy going on between Erza and her sister, that was sure. But Lisanna wasn't quite sure to what extent.

But despite all that, the night passed like any other night, and the morning came much too early for Erza. She still had a pounding headache, like after an hangover. Down at the guild, however, everything seemed relatively normal. The news that Erza had heroically saved Lisanna, Mirajane, and Elfman had spread, but given Erza's usual exploits, this was not that unusual. People were talking about how pissed off Mirajane must be that _Erza_ of all people had saved her sister. Only two people in the whole guild knew better and they pretended not to know.

It was a regular morning. Natsu was as wild as always and fighting with Gray, but Erza didn't feel like putting their fights to rest more than once. It made her happy to see them all alive and well. Maybe a little _too_ alive, considering how much they were fighting, but she would let it pass.

Erza was looking at the request board when Mirajane and Lisanna showed up, followed by a badly damaged and bandaged Elfman, who seemed a little depressed.

"Mira." Erza turned around and put on an expression of fake disdain. Mirajane showed a face full of contempt, pretended to spit on the ground, and took a big detour around Erza. Everyone else quickly moved out of her way, believing that Mirajane was really pissed that it had been Erza who had saved her sister.

She also gave Elfman a really dark look, apparently blaming him for the fact that she was now in Erza's debt.

Cana, setting down her barrel, sighed and shook her head. "Can't you two ever get along?"

Without caring for the harsh glares half the guild threw at her (what sense did it make to agitate those two right now?), she continued drinking.

Erza picked a job, still pretending to be horribly displeased that she had put Mirajane in her debt. It was a simple mission of hunting down a monster that was wreaking havoc in the east. Without looking back, she left. Mirajane watched her go. Having to keep up with this charade made her heart ache.

Erza was no different. They had to find a way quickly to get along. But then again, they wanted to keep the flow of history as close as possible to what it was supposed to be. And Erza and Mirajane only really became friends instead of rivals after Lisanna had died.

"Mira, can't you get along with Erza? You two made a pretty good team back there," Lisanna commented, only to earn a weird glare from her sister.

"A _team?_ With _Erza?_ Lisanna, did you hit your head?" Mirajane looked at the ceiling. That was exactly what she wanted—to be a team with Erza. But that was much easier said than done as things were.

"What are you looking so gloomy for, sis?" Elfman spoke up and looked like he was about to unleash another one of his "if you're a man" speeches.

"Because I'm in _Erza's_ debt. I have to do anything she asks me, no matter what it is. I have no doubt she'll ask me to do something crazy." Mirajane made that up on the spot, and thank God Erza wasn't there at the moment. It would've been awkward.

"I don't think Erza's that kind of person," Lisanna commented.

The more she thought about it, the more Mirajane realized what a stroke of genius this was. Erza simply had to ask her to go on a date with her. She could pretend to not like the idea and then slowly warm up to her. It was a bit of a stretch, but it was better than nothing.

But Erza was gone for some time. Mirajane sighed and everyone else got the idea that it was better not to talk to her. Mirajane felt a bit weird wearing the clothes she used to wear before Lisanna's death, but she didn't have much of a choice.

Mirajane stood up and walked over to the request board, giving both her siblings a very clear sign to keep where they were. After picking a request that asked for a songstress, much to the shock of everyone in the room, Mirajane left the guild.

"Did she just…?" someone whispered.

"Yeah, she did…that poor business…" someone else answered.

Lisanna was a little worried about her sister. The incident with Elfman had changed her somehow.

Outside the guild, Mirajane was approached by a local kid. "A woman with red hair and armor told me to give this to Mirajane of Fairy Tail. Can you give it to her?"

Mirajane picked up the item from the kid's hands and examined it. It was an empty envelope. There was something written on the back.

_Wait for post._

"I'm Mirajane. Thanks, kid." Mirajane looked around to see if anyone from the guild was watching her and pocketed the envelope. She had an idea of what it was.

It was a rare kind of envelope, one of a pair. If someone put a letter in one of them, the letter appeared in the other one. It could be used to send letters between people over long distances. The letters took hours to fully travel between the envelopes, so they were useless for quick communication. Still, they would serve their purpose well.

Mirajane had no doubt that this was left by Erza. How many red-haired women with armor were there besides Erza? Feeling a bit better, Mirajane left for the town of Hargeon to do her job. She would tell Erza about her idea with a letter. Everyone knew that she had a liking for racy books and things anyway, so it wouldn't be that weird for Erza to ask Mirajane out on a date.

Mirajane smiled and set off for the train station. Things were looking good.

### End of Epoch I ###


	2. Fiery White

A/N: A happy new year!

If you happen to read my other story "Hear my Song!" then by all means, please participate in the poll in my profile. Thank you for your time.

**Scarlet Lily**

Epoch II

_Fiery White_

Elunos, the Island of Tears—a mysterious island far off to the north of Fiore, located in the middle of the ocean. A massive island with a rock foundation strong enough to withstand even the most powerful of the storms that surrounded the island all year.

Elunos was famous for its lack of a police force and its very few laws. The ruler of the island was a mysterious person called Mask who rarely appeared in public and always wore a majestic mask that hid his whole face whenever he did. The few laws that did exist in Elunos guaranteed a certain level of peace. Mask himself had issued those laws long ago.

It was said that there was once a group of thugs who ignored those fundamental laws and defied Mask. They killed, robbed and destroyed without regard for anything or anyone. One day, so the legend goes, the body of their leader was found in the marketplace.

It was only half of a body, really. The skin was still there, but the insides—the organs, the flesh, the bones—had all turned to dust. No trace was ever found of the thugs. It was only one of many incidents that showed what happened to those who defied the laws of Elunos. Mask's power was absolute in Elunos, and it had to be. The isle was full of criminals, outlaws, rogue wizards, researchers, all kinds of people.

About a day away from the island was a mighty ship, one that bore the emblem of Fairy Tail. Many people from around the world had been invited to Elunos to participate in a battle that people said would be like nothing ever seen, and Fairy Tail was one guild that had answered the call. To be more exact, Erza, Mirajane, and Natsu answered the call—they just dragged a few more people with them to fulfill the required number of fighters.

Currently, the ship was stuck in one of the many storms that surrounded Elunos. The ship was shaking violently and Erza was hit by another wave that was as high as a tower. She had steering duty right now. Even covered with a raincoat, Erza was still soaking wet. She longed for her warm cabin, but the storm would not let go. It would not get weaker. That was the nature of the Cyclone Forest, as sailors called the waters around Elunos.

The ship had been prepared with special magic enhancements for the journey through the Cyclone Forest. Right now, the only position that had to be manned was the helmsman to keep the ship's course.

To keep the ship on course was not easy, but Erza had done a good job. Currently the compass was still pointing in the right direction.

Erza had been steering for almost two hours. It was about time for the next person in line to take over. If she remembered correctly, Gray was up next. He was responsible enough to show up on time, she hoped. She was cold to the bone.

Erza pulled her hair back for the ninth time. Wet strands of hair constantly whipped in her face from the storm's furious wind. Everyone else was down below deck, either sleeping or simply sitting out the storm and waiting for the arrival on Elunos.

They would likely have to stop at one of the many uninhabited islands on the way to restock their supplies, but the payment for participating in the battle was well worth the journey. Not only were they paid for participation, they could also win prize money.

Erza had heard that there was a casino on the island as well, one of the biggest casinos in the world. She would make a few jewels there. There were a few materials she wanted to buy and have made into armor, and they scored millions and tens of millions of jewels on the black market.

"Erza." It was finally time. Gray was suddenly standing next to her, ready to take over.

He didn't mind the water and the winds as much as everyone else because of his training. He was also the only one who wouldn't wear a raincoat. Erza and Mira had joked that he wouldn't be able to keep it on anyway, so he might as well go in swimming trunks.

"Thank you. I'm going down." Erza left the wheel to Gray and went below deck.

She was dripping wet. She longed for a hot shower, but ships sadly didn't come installed with those. At least it was warm down below. The ship was pretty new and very clean, much to Erza's relief.

Everyone was being very calm about the journey through the Cyclone Forest. They knew the ship could handle it and that the people steering were doing their job well. There was also a magic buffer cast by Master Makarov himself in place that stabilized the inside of the ship to make the journey a little more pleasant. Below deck, one barely noticed that they were surrounded by the rough and wild sea.

Erza went to put away her raincoat, hanging it on a hook in one of the rooms the crew used to dry clothes. After locking the door, she switched out of her armor and pulled off her top, hanging it alongside the raincoat. Clothes from Lisanna, who had been steering before her, and Levy and Laki, who had steered together, were hanging there as well. The guys had their own room in order to avoid any unfortunate accidents—like walking into the room at the wrong time and getting beaten to a bloody mess by Erza, Mira, or Miki.

As soon as Erza let her skirt slide down, preparing to hang up her underwear, someone knocked on the door. Nothing was said, just three knocks each separated by a second. Erza recognized it right away. It was their sign.

Erza quickly changed into new clothes from her wardrobe—a long blue skirt and a black top—leaving her armor off. She had enough clothes for every occasion on board. She took many shifts steering the ship because she felt responsible as one of the leaders. Every third shift was hers, and half the room was full of clothes from her.

The wooden ground was inside the drying room was wet. Erza liked this feeling, the smell of wet wood and the warmth of below deck while the storm raged on. She liked to walk barefoot on the ship when not on duty.

Tiny water drops fell from her hair. Erza couldn't find a dry towel, and she had already used up all the ones she had packed herself.

It couldn't be helped. Erza unlocked the door and left. Right next to the door someone was leaning against the wooden wall, patiently waiting for her to come out. That someone was Erza's lover, Mirajane. Erza reached out and took the towel that Mira was holding out to her with a smile.

"You're going to catch cold, taking so many shifts."

They were keeping their relationship secret, but a few select people knew about them. Lisanna had made it clear that she had known for some time a few weeks back, and after talking to Erza, Mirajane told her outright. Levy knew as well, and she too had promised to not say a word to anyone. To avoid suspicion, Erza shared her room not with Mirajane but with Levy, while Lisanna stayed in the same room with her sister.

"Want to go to the meeting room and get something to eat?" Mira asked.

As if to accept, Erza's stomach grumbled. She hadn't eaten in half a day, and she really longed for something warm to eat and drink.

"Is Lisanna sleeping?" Erza put her towel on her head and rubbed her hair, trying to stop the tiny droplets from soaking her clothes. Mira chuckled at the sight of Erza's red hair standing up in every direction. She looked like a lightning bolt had hit her.

"I don't know. When I woke up, you were already on duty and Lisanna was gone." Mira finally left her position and laid both her arms around Erza's neck. She knew that no one was there to see them. In this eternal storm, one could hardly tell day from night, and everyone seemed to prefer to stay in their quarters. The only people who came up to the drying room were those going on duty.

"Mira…" Erza could never manage to stop her cheeks from blushing when Mira came this close to her. A drop of water landed on Erza's cheek from her still-wet hair and Mira smilingly took it away with her lips. A single, short kiss on the cheek, conveyed a world of passion.

Mira took the hand of her red-haired girlfriend and led her down the hallway to the meeting room. Before they entered, Mira let go of Erza's hand. Everyone knew that Erza and Mira were getting along now. The rivalry was settled, they now accepted each other as equals. That was what everyone thought. But it had all be a lie to cover up their secret.

The meeting room was pretty lively. Laki, Miki, and Cana were playing cards on a table in the back, and Levy was apparently cooking something. The nice smell of fried noodles filled the room. Erza took a deep sniff and walked over to the small kitchen.

The meeting room itself was pretty big, but not spacious. There were many chairs around two large tables at which at least four people could sit at a time. There were also couches that faced each other in the middle of the room. The room was dimly lit by some magic candles that never burned down. A few sat on the tables, and some hung from the walls, mostly near the kitchen. The kitchen was in the northeastern corner of the room. It had a small counter behind which Levy was currently standing. She was wearing an adorable apron.

Despite her love for Mira, Erza had never felt attracted to any other woman. It wasn't that she was interested in women in general; it was that Mira was an exception. She was special.

Cana noticed the two newcomers quickly and waved them over. Mira followed while Erza shook her head slightly, smiling, and walked to the kitchen to see what Levy was cooking up.

"Mirajane said you'd be hungry. It's almost ready." Levy smiled and added some seasoning to the fried noodles. They smelled delicious. Erza had never known that Levy was such a talented cook.

Erza looked back at the table where the four girls were sitting. Mirajane had joined their game. After she and Erza became friends in public, people were suddenly much more accepting of Mira than before. Now, both Erza and Mirajane seemed to be well-respected members of their guild.

Things sure were different from the past. Back then, Mira had been in shock from losing Lisanna and Erza was often away for days, rarely spending time at the guild. But now they were a team and went on most missions together. Most called them Team Titania, a title that had previously belonged to Erza alone, but now she and Mira shared that name.

A lot of things had changed.

It had been half a year since they'd returned to this time. It was as if the nightmare of Zeref's world had been nothing but a bad dream. But that dream still hovered over them, a gigantic threat like the sword of Damocles, ready to fall down on them at any time. They were all too aware of what could happen if history was left unchecked. Erza had still nightmares sometimes, but even so, they'd finally settled in and found some comfort in their new time.

Their new lives were better than their old ones in many ways. They missed the people they had gotten to know well, like Lucy and Wendy, but if things worked out right, they would meet again. It was only a matter of time. And of that, they had plenty.

"I win!" Mira slammed her cards on the table and grinned. Erza slowly walked over after grabbing her plate from Levy, who was cleaning up the kitchen now. She didn't understand the rules of the game, and had no intention of learning them, but watching Mira and the others was quite interesting.

"You're making me hungry. Give me a bite." Mira leaned to the side and opened her mouth wide. Erza was a little surprised at how bold Mira could be in front of the others. With a sigh, she shared some noodles with Mira, who seemed delighted to get some warm food.

"I'm out. I have a shift in eight hours, and I've been up forever." Cana put her cards down and took one of the candles. The hallways and cabins were pitch black without candlelight.

"Before I forget, have you seen Lisanna?" Mirajane turned around on her chair and looked at Cana, who seemed deep in thought now. The passage of time on this boat was a little blurry for her.

"Not in the last few hours. Maybe she's with Natsu? He's really suffering on this trip. Alzack, too," Cana replied, and waved the others goodbye. Getting sleep was hardly the problem. Getting _up_ was much more difficult.

Mira turned sideways again to steal another forkful of noodles from Erza. The other two girls smiled at the sight of Erza, who looked a little annoyed at having to feed Mirajane.

The others were starting to get a little suspicious, Levy knew. She often speculated along with them about what was going on between the two girls, despite the fact that Levy already knew. Most of the others simply thought that it was all just really good friendship. Laki and Miki entertained the idea that Mira was hitting on Erza. Most of the guys were completely oblivious of the entire situation.

One after another, the others went to bed. Levy returned to her room, reading a thick old grimoire she had bought before the journey. Miki and Laki both left as well after losing two more rounds against Mirajane. They hadn't known each other very well before the trip, but after sharing a room for a week they had become close friends. Despite being a powerful mage and leader of her own team, Miki was a scaredy cat at heart, and so she often sneaked into Laki's bed, much to Laki's annoyance, who slept lightly and was not even _remotely_ interested in something romantic with Miki.

The clock said it was one in the morning. Elfman had just taken over for Gray. The storm was as bad as ever, and Gray showed up in the meeting room shortly after he was relieved. Not even he liked waves and rain whipping on his body for two hours straight.

Erza had fallen asleep. Mira sat on one of the couches, simply caressing Erza's hair with her hand while the knight rested her head on the white-haired woman's lap. It looked so peaceful that Gray decided to keep to himself and get something to eat before heading back to his room.

They'd all brought something to keep them busy. He was reading a book that handled advanced forms of ice magic. It was very boring, so he fell asleep half the time reading it.

Mira simply continued to sit there and look at the peacefully sleeping Erza. Both she and Erza had gone through a lot and it had marked them. To live to see Zeref's nightmares, to survive seeing the past, to have changed history…

Sometimes Mira didn't know how to act, but she felt at most ease being as she was right now. She was still a little tough and rowdy, but she wasn't as wild as before. She still kept her usual style after hearing Erza mention that she really loved her clothes—a black top, stockings, a purple mini-skirt with a white belt, and a red ribbon that pulled her hair back in a ponytail—the same clothes she had worn when they had encountered "The Beast."

It was almost time for Erza's next shift when Mira carefully got up and placed Erza's head on the couch, covering her with a blanket. She looked really adorable like that.

On her way out, Mira looked back over her shoulder one more time and smiled. After closing the door quietly, Mirajane grabbed her raincoat from the drying room and braced herself for the outside. The winds and the rain were as bad as ever. Maybe the wind was even a little worse than before. Elfman was still up at the helm, completely soaked.

"Ah, sis. What are you doing out here?" Elfman only recognized Mira after she came up and stood right next to him. Her raincoat was pitch black with dark shades of purple, making her almost invisible under the darkness from the storm clouds.

"I'm next in line." Mira saw the confused expression on Elfman's face, but insisted on taking over.

"Be careful, sis. The wind's been really bad. But it's nothing for a real man!" Elfman exclaimed before leaving the deck and going down below. Mira sighed and corrected their course only slightly. She was in for a very long four hours.

Erza woke to the sound of rustling paper. It was a slow, calming sound. She could smell the old pages.

When she opened her eyes, Erza found herself still in the meeting room on the couch. The candles on the walls bathed the room in a slightly orange light. It was kind of romantic. Erza loved to spend her free hours down here with Mira, but they rarely got to be alone.

To her surprise, it was not Levy who was sitting next to her—it was Lisanna. She was reading a huge book about transformation magic that she most likely had borrowed from Levy. Erza found it a little odd that Lisanna was getting along so well with Levy. They were very different.

Erza simply lay back down and closed her eyes again. Whenever she saw Lisanna, she was reminded that the girl was supposed to have died long ago and that Mira had gotten back to her real self because her sister still lived. It filled Erza with a sense of satisfaction.

Erza finally remembered that she had a shift coming up and sat up. Where _was_ Mira, anyway? Erza noticed the blanket and figured that the woman must have left her sleeping. She was really considerate in her own way.

Lisanna noticed Erza as soon as she got up. Most people might have mixed feelings towards the girlfriend of their older sister, but Lisanna was different. She seemed to really like the idea that Erza was dating her sister.

"Were you sleeping?" Lisanna had become a good friend of Erza. The knight had once asked her if she wanted to join their team, but the girl rejected the offer. She wanted to make a team with Natsu. Erza didn't know if it was a good idea to let her do that, because it could meddle with Lucy joining, but Mira assured her that it would be okay.

"Somehow, yes. I remember closing my eyes for a second when I was sitting on the couch with Mira…I must have dozed off." Erza was a little embarrassed to have fallen asleep like that, but Lisanna was not the type to tease her.

"You've been doing every third shift for the past two days. You were tired. Mira should be done soon; it's my turn next." Lisanna looked at the little clock she had brought with her. It was a wooden model that sat on the table. It slid a few centimeters from side to side each time the ship moved. Erza had long grown used to the shaking ground, but it fascinated her a little to see the little object move on its own.

Erza connected the dots from what Lisanna had said and felt guilty. "So Mira took my shift? I need to thank her when she comes down." Erza looked at the empty kitchen and thought that Mira must be freezing and hungry by now. Erza should cook up something quickly.

"Are you gonna cook something?" Lisanna looked up from her book, a little interested, when Erza walked to the kitchen. Deep down, Lisanna thought her sister had great taste. Erza was a strong, responsible, honest, and beautiful woman. There really was no better match for her sister than Erza. Lisanna would never tell Erza that, though. It would probably make her head explode.

Lisanna sometimes teased the red-haired sorceress with romantic things about her sister, and it was too funny to watch her reactions. She would always saying things like such-and-such a place would be nice for a date, or that the two of them ought to be more quiet at night. Erza could deal with dark guilds and monsters with ease, but she was pretty weak with romantic stuff.

Lisanna put a finger on the paragraph she had just started and looked at the clock. Ten minutes before she had to switch. That meant another five to chat, and five to get ready.

"I know it's not really my business, but when are you two gonna tell everyone?" Lisanna asked as she looked for something to use as a bookmark. She found nothing and resigned herself to simply remembering the paragraph later. "I know you feel as uncomfortable as I do lying to them about it."

"I don't know. I _do_ want to tell everyone and stop hiding, but…we have our reasons."

No matter how much she trusted Lisanna, Erza couldn't tell her everything. To suddenly tell everyone they were going out would bring up the question of how it started. They couldn't very well tell them of Zeref's nightmares and time travel. They'd be declared insane. Or worse, Syrnafir could view it as breaking the contract. A little more time needed to pass before they could reveal it to everyone without raising too much suspicion.

"Well, at least you told me. I did kinda know about it. My sister was never the type to be good at lying and hiding things. Sneaking out in the middle of the night and going to your room for hours was a dead giveaway, too!" Lisanna giggled and leaned against the couch as she watched Erza prepare something that looked like stew. She knew full well that Erza was taking secret cooking lessons from Mirajane.

"I need to get ready. I'm going to get Mira. Are you going to come?" Lisanna walked back to her book and memorized the paragraph once more before she closing it.

She didn't really need Erza to answer that question; Lisanna knew she would come. Erza and Mira always came to see each other after one of them had a shift outside. Most people didn't even bother to check who was asleep and who wasn't anymore. They shared a room, too, even though it was officially Erza's and Levy's room. Levy stayed in Mira's and Lisanna's room.

Erza put a lid on the pot and accompanied Lisanna for the short distance to the first subdeck and the drying rooms. They had initially been storage rooms, but Laki, Miki, and Levy had remodeled them. It was really handy to have someone with wood-based magic on board.

"I'll go and get her. If you're still up in two hours, I'll see you around." Lisanna pulled her raincoat from a hook and headed out into the storm. Erza waited patiently around the corner as she always did. She could hear Mira's footsteps and the sound of water dripping on the floor.

The door opened and closed, and Erza could hear Mira undress and drop her soaked clothes to the floor. Three knocks on the door, and Erza leaned in the same spot as Mira had done earlier that day. She didn't carry a towel, though, as she knew there were some dry ones inside.

A few minutes later, Mira came out of the room with a large towel over her head. She didn't have enough clothes packed for the trip, so she had already borrowed some from Erza. She was now wearing a pair of brown fur boots, a long skirt similar to the one Erza wore now although it was black, and a deep purple top that Erza actually had packed specifically for Mira to borrow it.

Mira threw a quick glance down the corridor to confirm that no one was there. Erza had no chance to get away from the wall; Mira had moved too quickly. She pinned her girlfriend to the wall gently before giving her a quick kiss. Strands of wet hair brushed against both their faces and Erza couldn't help but smile at this before she returning the kiss, much more passionately than the one she had received.

Although it was pretty safe to fool around a little, someone could still see them, so they retreated back to the meeting room after a while. The stew was almost done. Mira's eyes shimmered in the dim light when Erza put a bowl of hot steaming stew before her.

"I knew it was worth every second to teach you how to cook." Mira took a spoonful and sighed in delight. It wasn't especially delicious or perfectly cooked, but it was made just for her by the person she loved, and it warmed her from the inside.

Erza sat down right next to Mira, watching as she ate the stew and even took seconds. Mira couldn't help but giggle at some point. Erza wasn't acting at all like her usual self. Right now she was a soft and gentle woman looking after her partner. Mira liked that side of Erza a lot.

Exhaustion soon caught up to Mira. Pulling a double shift really took its toll, and Erza was not up to par either, even if she had slept for roughly four hours.

"I changed the shift schedule a little. We have ten people to take shifts, so everyone can sleep eight hours at some point. You're up again in four hours, Erza." Mirajane looked at the clock that Lisanna had left behind and she quickly recognized it as something her sister owned. She left it where it was for the others. Mira had her own clock in Erza's room.

"I really need to get some sleep, Erza. I can barely keep my eyes open." Mira left out the fact that she was so sleepy because she'd eaten too much stew.

"Mira. I always wanted…" Erza blushed a little and whispered something in Mira's ear, who also blushed a little. Well, it wasn't exactly _that_ outrageous, but…

"If you want to, go ahead." Mira turned around on the chair and waited for Erza to do her part. They checked to see if anyone was in the hallway, but it was really quiet. Steering was exhausting in a storm so rough, so most of the guild members only woke up to take their shifts and eat. They then went back to bed or to do something relaxing in their rooms.

Erza got up and carefully picked up Mirajane. With one arm under her legs and the other under her back, Erza lifted Mira up and carried her like a princess. The white-haired woman felt pretty funny, being carried like that, but Erza seemed to be enjoying it. Her smile was bright and her eyes shone.

Their room was pretty close to the meeting room. The rooms were all the same and were furnished simply. From where one entered, the room was a perfect square. To one side was a wooden table with a single wooden clock, similar to the one Lisanna owned. On the other side was was a bunk bed. One slept in the upper bunk, the other in the lower.

Levy had planned ahead and had taken the lower bunk. If someone were to come in, that person wouldn't be able to see into the upper bunk where Erza and Mira were sleeping. She was considerate of them since they trusted her enough to tell her that they were together.

The door was never locked, so Erza simply pushed it open with her elbow. Mira was still a little amused and happy about being carried, but her drowsiness was hitting her hard now. After Erza let her down, Mira simply grabbed her lover's hand and pulled her up the short ladder to the upper bunk, where they fell into bed.

Erza was a little worried about Mira, but decided to stay. Holding hands, Erza lay close to Mira and pulled the blanket over them. She had an excellent sense of time and she almost never overslept. That is, she never overslept unless Mira was with her. It wasn't that uncommon for her to sleep in when Mira was with her for the night. Just being with Mira made Erza let down her guard.

Erza herself only realized how tired she was when she lay down. The fatigue from the last few days was catching up even to the mighty Erza. Despite wanting to look a little longer at the peaceful face of the already-sleeping Mirajane right next to her, Erza's eyes fell closed, sending her off to the land of dreams.

### _Scarlet_ _Lily_ ###

It was about time. Erza woke up just minutes before Levy knocked on the door. Miki was almost done with her shift and it was to be Erza's turn again. Nobody liked to get out in the storm, and some of them questioned whether it was worth the long journey. The payment was tremendous, but the trip was starting to become bothersome.

Erza left the bed without waking up Mira, who was still sleeping like an angel. Erza found it especially macabre and a bit funny to compare Mira with an angel, considering her trademark magic Satan Soul. Erza changed clothes simply with re-equip, not wanting to make any loud noises from going through her luggage.

She changed into a thick fur mantle and then opened the door, on her way to pick up her raincoat from the drying room. Levy was outside waiting for Erza to come out. Knowing the nature of their relationship, Levy thought it better to not just go into their room without permission.

"I hope we arrive at Elunos soon. I read that the entire island is surrounded by a gigantic storm system all year. I really hope the arena has a roof." Levy was not too confident in her fighting skills, but no one knew the rules for the tournament yet. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Levy accompanied Erza to the drying room, which was slightly unusual. "If there are group battles…can I join up with you and Mira?" Levy wasn't sure if it was a good idea to do this, but having two S-rank mages as allies in combat would definitely help.

"Sure, why not? I'll ask Mira later, to make sure she's okay with it." Erza found herself thinking that it was odd that Levy was not yet the leader of Shadow Gear, her own team. Jet and Droy were members of the guild and close to Levy, but there were no signs of them forming a team…which could result in problems, seeing how they had to be attacked by Gajeel in the fight against Phantom.

But that was still a long time ahead in the future. For now, the immediate future of soaking wet clothes, winds whipping in her face, and a never-ending storm demanding her attention was calling for Erza more strongly.

Erza grabbed her raincoat and put it on, only to pull her hood back down at the last second. The last time she had steered her wet hair had constantly annoyed her by falling in her face. She searched in her pockets but didn't find anything like a hair tie.

"Levy, can I borrow that clip?" Erza pointed at one of the hair clips Levy was wearing at the time.

Levy handed the clip to Erza without question and smiled. She thought it must be nice to have long, silky hair like Erza's. Levy spent so much time on her books that she never found the time to properly care for her own hair, so she kept it as it was. Not to mention that it would take ages to grow it out to the same length as Erza's.

Erza clipped most of her front hair back and made sure it would hold, pulled up her hood, and headed up the stairs to relieve Miki from duty. No matter how often she did this, the first few seconds outside caused her to want go inside right away. But her sense of duty was much stronger than some weak impulse she got from bad weather.

Levy was on her way back to the meeting room, where she had put up a map and a compass, to calculate how far they still had to go. They had been on this ship for over five days already, and of those five days, they'd spent four in the storm system of Elunos. Sometimes Levy thought they would never get there, that they were traveling in circles or the wrong direction. But if the maps were correct, they should arrive in Elunos in about half a day.

Gray, who had the next shift, was in the meeting room, along with Laki, who had traded her shift with Elfman.

"Hey. Isn't that a ship?" Gray was looking out of one of the many small windows. With the eternal black clouds and the rain, they were hardly useful, and it was only possible to see anything in the short moment a lightning bolt struck in the distance.

Levy and Laki quickly joined Gray, each taking a separate window. They could see nothing beyond the black waves that were subject to the storm. But when another lightning bolt came down, Levy saw it. The black outline of another ship, maybe a hundred meters to the west.

"There are more…" Gray pointed in the distance and the others looked really hard. There was something on the water, but it was hard to tell what it was exactly. The chance that there were more ships was very high. Elunos itself was a very popular port for a certain kind of people, mostly because of the complete lack of laws. Levy knew that much.

Laki walked to the other side, checking to see whether there were more ships to the east as well—and there were. Three were close enough to see whenever lightning struck, and there were some shadows further away on the horizon.

"It seems like a whole lot of people are going to Elunos. I just hope nothing happens." Levy was worried about the nature of the other ships. What if there was a dark guild on one of them?

"Even if someone attacks us, most of our guild's strongest members are on this ship. They'd think twice before doing such a thing." Laki was pretty optimistic regarding any fights. Almost everyone on board was an excellent fighter, Levy being a slight exception, but she was by no means weak.

"It won't be a joke if they wreck the ship. We'll be stuck in this storm forever!" Gray was worried about the ship, not the crew. Everyone on board could take care of themselves with ease, but if someone attacked the ship and destroyed a vital part, it could end in a disaster.

"I'll go and tell Erza. Levy, Laki, can you wake up the others? I have a bad feeling about this. There are too many ships, and I keep seeing more shadows every minute." Gray, who had in the meantime stripped down to just his trousers, was taking off on his own and left the two girls behind.

"His clothes…" Levy sighed and headed for her own room, where she would find most likely Mirajane. If they were close enough to the island to see so many other ships, her calculations must be fairly off.

It felt a little weird to be in Erza's room. What would she do if Mira wasn't dressed? The thought of Erza and Mira together, naked…_doing stuff_…was too much for Levy. She had to lean against the wall and take a deep breath to calm her mind.

She opened the door quietly and stood below the bunk bed before she knocking a few times on the frame and calling out for Mira in a quiet voice. Either she was sleeping really deeply or she wasn't there. Levy climbed up and found Mira to be perfectly sound asleep. With clothes on. Levy was _so_ relieved.

After shaking her slightly, Mira finally came to. "Le…Levy? Whats wrong? Where's Erza?" Mira wasn't quite awake yet.

"She's on duty. There are lots of ships around us. We're waking everyone up in case something happens." Levy gave her the short version and climbed back down to the floor. Natsu and Alzack could be skipped because they couldn't move anyway, but that still left quite a few people to wake up.

Mira rubbed her eyes and looked out the small window in the wall. Even from here she could see one of the supposed ships. She had expected company on the trip, but she hadn't thought so far ahead as to whether there would be any danger from them. Judging from the storm, if someone were to attack, both ships would not go unscathed.

If Erza was on duty, there was no way she didn't already know about the ships. That she hadn't rung the alarm yet meant that there was no imminent danger, but things could change at any time.

Mira jumped down and for once was grateful that she had slept in her clothes and could skip the time she'd need to dress. When she left her room, she immediately passed Miki, who was on her way upstairs too. She was wearing white gloves with metal fragments tucked sewn on the outside. Those gloves meant serious injuries for her target if her hits connected. While Mirajane was known simply as the "Demon", Miki was known as the "Demon Princess" because of the horns she had when using her magic.

"You heard about the ships?" Miki asked Mirajane while they were walked straight for the drying rooms. They weren't quite running, but they stepped quickly. Mirajane was ready to go into Satan Soul any second.

"Levy told me. Erza's out there, I need to talk to her about this." Even though both of them were called "Demons" Miki had a lot of respect for Mirajane as her superior. Miki was not quite S-class yet, and Mirajane was more or less one of the strongest and most popular members of the guild. She was one of the two people who made up Titania. Miki wanted to be like Mirajane in that regard.

They met up with Elfman, who was already on his way out. How in the world he had gotten ahead of them was a mystery.

"Sis, you heard about the ships? I wonder if there are any strong men on those," were Elfman's last words before he vanished into the storm outside.

The area around the ladder was already dripping wet. Mira threw Miki's raincoat over to her and took her own, zipping it up a little too fast and getting part of her hair stuck in it.

"I'm going ahead." Miki left, leaving her hood down and heading out in the storm.

Bisca and Cana arrived at the drying rooms and simply exchanged silent looks with Mira. Everyone was on the edge from hearing about the ships. They were all tired of being confined to the ship and wanted to get out, or at least talk to some other people.

Mira finally got her hair unstuck and headed out, bracing herself against the roar of the wind. Erza was still at the wheel. Miki and Elfman were at the ship's railing. To the east, there was one ship particularly close, maybe twenty meters. They could see people standing on deck, but couldn't hear if they were saying or screaming anything. The storm eliminated all sound. It was necessary to yell while standing right next to someone to talk to them

Mira quickly went to see Erza, who looked a bit troubled. She was talking with Gray and left the steering to him. By now, the entire group save Natsu and Alzack were on deck in the rain. Erza walked to the rail at the highest position of the deck and Mira followed her.

"How many are there?" Mira yelled, and even so, Erza barely understood her. She had very good hearing, but the storm was too strong and loud.

"I spotted more than twenty!" Erza yelled back and saw that Mira understood her. Her attention was diverted back to the nearby ship when something like a flash of lightning appeared on it and vanished a few seconds later.

Despite not actually hearing it, Erza turned around and saw everyone jump away from the middle of the boat. A person had appeared in another flash of light, dressed in formal attire and carrying a thick stack of what looked like envelopes. He seemed to ask Levy something and Levy pointed at the Titania pair. He disappeared from Levy's sight in an instant and reappeared before Erza and Mirajane not even a split second later.

Mira blinked in surprise. He'd just displayed some powerful teleportation magic. The man, roughly in his thirties or forties (it was hard to tell) handed Erza one of the envelopes with a smile and vanished with the third flash of lightning.

Erza anxiously examined the envelope. On it was the seal of Elunos—a moon half hidden by a cloud. It was addressed generally to "Fairy Tail Guild." It was an official paper from Elunos, and that man had most likely been a highly talented and skilled delivery mage. It must be important.

Erza felt that she should open the envelope together with everyone else. Mira went down and told Levy, who told Miki, and so on. Everyone but Gray, who asked to be told immediately after they discussed it, went inside.

Everyone stood around Erza and Mira, all of them still in their raincoats, dripping wet and slightly uncomfortable. As soon as Erza broke the seal, the envelope started glowing with a golden light for a few seconds, then stopped and looked as normal as it had before. It had been magically coated so it wouldn't get wet. It was likely the norm around Elunos.

Erza pulled out three pages. One was simply a list of many, many names written in small print. The second and third pages were a letter.

"I'm going to read it." Erza started at the top.

"_Participants of the Great Divine Royal Tournament of Elunos,_

"_Round one of the tournament will begin thirty minutes after this envelope has been opened. The nature of the first battle will be an all-out war between the present guilds. The attached list of names represents every participating ship and their status. The last seventy ships to stay afloat will receive a letter that shall serve as certificate to enter._

"_The rules are very simple. No alliances between ships. No Class Five or higher bombardment spells. Failure to comply with the advance letter will result in the participants' ship being sunk with a Class Eight bombardment spell. Retreat from Elunos' waters will only be granted to participants who have reached Round Three. Any attempt to escape will be met with deadly force. Breaking any rule will be met with deadly force as well._

"_To be among the final seventy participants is the only requirement to enter the next round. One participant will be chosen for outstanding performance. They will receive the fabulous prize of five hundred thousand jewels per head as well as a rare grimoire. The first round begins in _twenty-seven minutes and thirty-two seconds."

Erza finished reading and looked up at everyone's shocked faces. She had expected some tricks and traps from the lawless island, but this was unexpected. Everyone else looked just as surprised and shocked as Erza.

"They said we can't retreat unless we reach Round Three. There's something fishy about this." Mira looked over the letter herself and found the whole thing to be ridiculous. What kind of conditions were those? This wasn't a tournament, this was just plain an everyone-versus-everyone war with ridiculous rules.

"What do we do, Erza?" Levy looked at Erza, and then to Mira. They were Team Titania, the two strongest people on board, and also the two people who ran the guild in the Master's absence.

"We fight. I trust that they have some kind of weapon to fire at ships that completely annihilate them." Erza thought of the Jupiter cannon that Phantom owned and of Etherion. Chances were good that Elunos had something similar. But she couldn't tell for sure.

This whole job hadn't happened in the timeline before. Or if it had, she had simply missed it. She had lost track of how things were supposed to go, but Syrnafir had never showed herself, so everything seemed to be fine…for now.

"Eh? Fight? There are hundreds of people out there, most of them waiting to kill each other!" Laki protested, which earned a harsh glare from Erza.

"Would you rather be sunk? Because that seems to be our only alternative. I'm going to tell Gray. Everyone, start preparing. We will do this quickly and cleanly. The battle begins in twenty-six minutes."

Laki wanted to protest again, but the finality of Erza's words sank in quickly. They had accepted one terrible job. Erza felt like she was to blame, and so did Mira.

Everyone but Mira left, and the two S-rank mages looked at each other.

"What a mess," Mira finally said, sighing.

"Nothing we can do about it now. I hope this doesn't get any worse. I'm going to need you as our main offensive force, Mira. You and Lisanna are the only ones capable of flying in this weather." Erza knew that Mira would do her job well. They would attack quickly and end it with one blow.

Erza was relieved that Natsu was out of commission for now. He'd make a mess out of this situation. He'd probably try to get on another ship and fight all by himself. Things were way too dangerous now. There could be powerful magicians on the other ships and Erza was sure that it wouldn't be easy to reach the third round of this horrible game.

"I'm heading out." Erza pulled up her hood and left the letter with her lover before she went outside again to tell Gray of the news.

Mira went to the meeting room where she found everyone getting ready for combat. It was one thing to be suddenly thrown in an ambush but another thing entirely to come prepared for a war. It reminded Mira painfully of the fight against Phantom. This would go differently. She would make sure of that. The woman clenched her fists and hit the table in the middle, drawing everyone's attention.

"Everyone, there's no telling what kind of enemy will be on the other ships. For now, we know there are two hundred and nine other ships out there, all of them full of people who will want to sink us. I won't assign you positions, but here are some ground rules—keep together. _Never_ separate and move alone. If anyone shows up on deck, gang up on them. It doesn't matter if you can take them on alone. If the ship suffers too much damage, we won't be able to get _anywhere_."

Mira was very clear in her instructions, so everyone only gave a quick nod. They longed to get out of the ship, to move around and maybe go shopping or party. This was not what they had expected or wanted. Well, maybe except Elfman, who seemed to be pumped at the prospect of getting into a fight, much to Mirajane's displeasure.

They were all old enough to know what they had to do. They were members of Fairy Tail, not just some random people. Mira left them to their own devices and headed back up just in time to catch Erza running through the hallway to the storage room, where she kept over ninety percent of her luggage. She would need a few different sets of armor for this environment.

It wasn't difficult for her to switch them. She just simply exchanged things in her spatial vault with things in the boxes. She had long gotten a feeling for how to do it without damaging both the box and the armor. It was a necessity, because it would take forever to unpack and repack every box each time she needed to switch her armor.

Erza never kept more than ten to twelve sets of armor in her vault at one time. The rest were weapons. There were hundreds of swords, as well as spears, axes, lances, and many other weapons. Erza wasn't limited to sword fighting, although she did excel at it.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Mira." Erza said. Mira wasn't surprised that Erza had noticed her presence without looking up.

"I do too. It was a bad idea to do something we haven't done before…literally. I hope nobody gets hurt." Mira still cared for every guild member, just as she had in their own time.

"Wendy would be really useful right now. And Juvia. With Juvia, we…do you think they're out there?" Erza stared off into space.

She had a terrible hunch. If any of the people who were supposed to switch guilds and play a vital role in any future events died out here…how would that affect the future that was fated to happen? Then again, time hadn't changed for them, so it stood to reason that none of them would die. But Fairy Tail _wasn't supposed to be there_…so who was the two hundredth and tenth participant in the original time…? It was so complicated that Erza's head started to hurt.

"Erza," Mirajane suddenly said. "Do you think this…tournament might not have happened before? That it's an event that only exists because we meddled with the time flow?"

That was a horrifying thought, but it made sense. If this tournament was an event that had not happened before, then Mira and Erza were responsible for it. But they were still there. So despite the event happening, the flow of time hadn't changed violently enough to affect major events in the future. Right? It was now Mira's turn to get a headache.

"In any case, we need to get everyone out of here. We have little choice but to win that tournament." Erza grabbed one final box and performed the exchange. She was prepared now.

"Third round and we are free to go, Erza." Mira smiled a little. Erza never learned how to hold back with anything. If she took part in a tournament, she would go for first place.

The whole guild, except two, was present on deck when Erza and Mira showed up. There was still a good ten minutes until the round officially started. The other ships had shown the same kind of activity Fairy Tail had. They were preparing for battle. Erza didn't like the idea of attacking people who didn't deserve it, but this was to guarantee the safety of her own guild. It was a matter of priority.

"They're firing!" someone yelled.

For the time being, Levy was in charge of steering, and she suddenly pulled the ship hard to starboard. A magical missile flew high over the ship and exploded, invisible, in the dark sky.

Cana made a derisive sound. "There was no rule to start before the round starts, I guess!" She was not equipped with magic for situations like this. She was more of a person-versus-person fighter.

Gray was the first to go on the offensive. "Ice Make Spear…" He turned and aimed at the sky at a ninety degree angle. "_Avalanche!_" Countless spears, made of solid ice, shot into in the sky, vanishing.

The whole ship shook violently when Levy changed their course with everything she had. The ship to their east had just launched an aerial assault against them. Next to the ship, massive rocks appeared and were crashing into the water. This was Bisca's cue. Anything that came close to the ship was hit by a strong sniping attack with burst shells. It kept them safe.

Mira had enough. The enemy to the west wasn't that dangerous, so the east one had priority. The western ship changed course and moved away from Fairy Tail. In the distance, they could just barely see that another ship had collided with them and that there were people fighting on both decks.

"_Darkness Stream!_" Even Mirajane had problems floating in the air with storm winds like these. Visibility was close to zero. But she wasn't particularly short on magic energy. For now, she simply aimed in the right direction and fired at will—one spell after another. They only had to survive. The gist of this game was to stay alive until the end, not to sink the most enemies.

"Levy!" Laki shouted with all her might. A ship had appeared out of nowhere, followed by two more. The first ship was now crossing right in front of them, the other two on each side. They were encircled from three directions. This was bad. They were on direct collision course!

Elfman and Miki then pulled a crazy but powerful stunt. Elfman had completely switched to take over The Beast and threw Miki, who had entered full enhancement mode, shown by the devilish horns on her head, right at the ship in front of them.

Miki hit the bow of the enemy vessel right on, cracking the ship's deck with a blood-curdling sound. Miki used the force of the impact to catapult herself right on top of the ship. She was facing eight people, six guys and two women. There was no one she recognized, and they had no guild emblem.

She jumped right at the guy who was steering, grabbing his neck and slamming him brutally to the ship's plank flooring. This was no joke. This was a real war.

Mirajane, in the meantime, had hit the vessel to the east multiple times. It was now sinking. She couldn't see any people on it, but she didn't care at all for them. She had learned that people did horrible things to survive.

The rain whipped brutally at her face and body. It alone would've hurt if not for her takeover. This was one uncomfortable battlefield. The lightning was dangerous too, but only for her. It was unlikely that it would directly strike a ship.

Out of the blue there was a brilliant flash of light. Everyone had to cover their eyes. When they finally managed to open them, they thought they had gone insane.

Below the eternally dark clouds, in the middle of the infinite storm, was a _sun_. A bright, red, glowing sun that illuminated the sky below the clouds. And for the first time, they could see the extent of the battle they were fighting.

There were ships as far as the eye could see. Dozens right next to them, previously hidden by the darkness. The rain was no match for the heat of the sun and while the storm was still raging, conditions had improved for now.

All of Fairy Tail was thinking the same thing. _Who could possibly create a miniature sun?_ But their attention was quickly turned back to the extreme battle. All of a sudden, everyone started to fire indiscriminately at everyone else. Bombardment spells, beam attacks, whatever one could think of was flying through the air. A full-scale war had broken out under the sun in the Cyclone Forest.

Miki punched the last standing member of the ship's crew so hard that he spat blood and passed out. The Fairy Tail ship was still on collision course. There was only one way to stop both ships from sinking, and that was to sink one of them first.

Miki had no time to lose. She quickly used the rigging to get up to the top of the main mast. Going so high would put her in some danger as well, but she was used to doing such things. Concentrating her energy in her right fist, Miki jumped straight down, hitting the deck right next to the center mast with full force.

The deck immediately splintered at the point where she hit, and the entire ship slowly split in half. The front part was already sinking, while the prow tilted straight up in the air in a matter of seconds. Miki climbed up. It was quite the jump back to the guild vessel, but she had to try it.

She jumped as hard as she could, but she already knew that she wouldn't make it. The ship was moving too slowly. Levy must have tried to outmaneuver the other ship instead of passing through it. Miki was about to hit the water when something sharp and claw-like yanked her by her shoulders. She looked up to see a gigantic bird with monstrous wings—Lisanna. Even in this form the storm was taking its toll on her. The wind was affecting her balance. She barely managed to get both of them back on the ship.

On ship, hell had already broken loose. Several enemies had landed on the ship's deck, all of them from a vessel that had come close enough to let them jump over. Erza took out most of them while Gray, Laki, and Bisca exchanged fire with the eastern vessel. Three more ships approached from behind and two more from the west.

Mira, high in the air, collected her power. She could bring the two ships down in a matter of seconds. The people attacking them had clearly shown their intent to kill, and Mira would not let anyone harm her guild.

The black orb in her hands grew exponentially as it absorbed more energy. Even the chaotic winds and the rain would not stop or change the vector of this blast.

"_Soul Extinction!_" The black beam shot at the two vessels to the west and impacted the front one with the power of multiple lightning bolts. The entire ship was torn apart into tiny fragments. The explosion swallowed the ship right behind it and destroyed the front half, causing the ship to sink at an alarming rate.

Despite this success, Fairy Tail was under heavy fire. The hull was taking damage, and Laki was doing her best to fix whatever she could with her magic, but it wasn't enough. Cana had switched over to support magic with her cards. Gray used the chance to monopolize Cana for a bit and prepared a spell to get rid of the pest to the east.

"Ice Make…" It took a lot out of him to form something so gigantic. Right above the enemy vessel a massive magic circle appeared that was almost the size of the entire ship.

"_Meteor!_" A humongous clump of ice materialized right on top of it. The ice meteor collapsed onto the ship, sinking the entire thing with one big crash. Nobody could have survived the impact. Gray fell to his knees. If he wasn't already soaking wet, he probably would have been now, from sweat.

Levy shouted something and Elfman relayed it. As The Beast, his voice could overpower the storm winds.

"_Everyone hold on tight! A massive wave is coming!_"

Everyone grabbed something. Lisanna and Miki had just landed. Mirajane's Soul Extinction and Gray's Meteor had had too large of an impact—a massive wave crashed over the entire ship.

By now, the three ships behind them had caught up. The front ship had something like a catapult on it. And there were more ships heading straight for them from all directions. It seemed like they were becoming the central area of the fight very, very quickly. Levy changed course again. She was the most skilled navigator on the ship.

Erza dashed to Elfman, knowing she had to take down the ships in pursuit. The back was the most vulnerable spot, and she knew the quickest way to get there. "Elfman! Elfman, throw me!"

Miki joined her quickly, demanding to be thrown as well. Elfman had no time to feel disgraced for being used as catapult. Even he realized the severity of the situation.

Elfman threw both girls at once. Erza grabbed Miki in mid-air and threw her even further, while she landed on the front ship that was in pursuit. The ship's inhabitants had just finished loading a massive barrel into the catapult. They were all rather surprised at Erza coming crashing down from the sky.

"Re-equip. _Purgatory Armor!_" Erza's face was as cold as steel as she stared at the dozen men on the ship. Some of them already had been preparing a spell, but Erza was quicker. Her massive black blade cut the sailor closest to her right in two. The upper part of the man's torso slid over the wet deck with a sickening sound. However, none of the others seemed shocked at the sudden violence. On the contrary. They calmly started to surround Erza.

Erza lost no time. She pushed forward and used a vertical slash against the next target, splitting his torso into two and cutting off his right arm and shoulder. She left him to bleed to death. Jumping up, Erza escaped multiple fire projectiles being hurled at her. Two more men had summoned weapons—a lance and an axe. They were using the same re-equip magic as Erza.

But they had underestimated her. With a violent swing, Erza destroyed the axe of the man in front of her, turned the weapon around, and stabbed blindly behind her—right through the man's stomach. Without consideration, Erza switched weapons and used an even bigger double-edged black axe to cut the attacker in front of her right in half.

Meanwhile, Mirajane was attacking ships left and right. She had the best view of the situation. There were about twelve clusters of fights that centered around one ship each. Fairy Tail was right in the middle of the three clusters in the east.

No matter where she looked, her view was full of people fighting each other, stepping over the dead bodies of their former allies as if they were nothing. The stench of death was present already.

One particularly large vessel was heading straight for Fairy Tail. It had a guild emblem that Mirajane knew—Acid Rain, a black guild that took a lot of assassination requests. Mira looked back. Erza was in the process of sinking the front ship in pursuit, and Miki had destroyed all three masts of the second ship, the one right behind Erza's.

A lot of wrecked ships were becoming visible in the ocean. Some sank completely, others stayed half afloat. Mira took off and headed straight for the massive galleon that approached from the front. She was about to hit the prow with a spell when instinct made her back off. Right above her was another user of takeover magic.

"Ah, if it isn't Mirajane, the Demon Titania!" came a voice.

A man, at least three heads taller than Mirajane, was flying right above her. His arms had wings attached to them, his head was shaped like that of a reptile, his legs ended in claws, and every inch of his skin was covered in scales. He also possessed a long tail and massive wings on his back.

"I am Veronius. As you may have guessed, this is my takeover, Dragon Heart. I have been wanting to meet you, but what a coincidence to meet a Fairy Tail vessel on its way to Elunos!" He laughed mirthlessly.

Mira thought he was way too talkative, and this simply wasn't a good time. With a lightning fast move, Mira closed the distance between the two and punched Veronius in the stomach as hard as she could, then grabbed his arm to stop him from moving back and hit him with a spell.

"_Evil Spark!_"

The man crashed into the prow of the galleon he probably belonged to. Mira couldn't see what became of him, but she knew that her spell was most likely not enough.

"_Darkness Stream!_" She fired half a dozen salves into the ship's prow. The galleon was too big to sink from damage like this, but whoever was steering changed course to get away from whatever attacked them.

"_Darkness Stream!_" Mira never stopped firing until her spell met an equal force right in mid-air.

"_Darkness Breath!_" A violent, dark cloud pushed against her own spell. They were equal in power.

Through the cloud, Mirajane could see Veronius literally using his mouth to shoot the spell at her. She didn't have time to drag this out, nor did she want to. She was too used to fighting alongside Erza by now.

But he didn't give her a chance. He was as fast—no, _faster_ than Mira and appeared right behind her in a flash, using both his hands to deliver a smashing blow to her back. The move sent her crashing into the raging ocean.

And he didn't stop there. He took a deep breath and started shooting fireballs at the area of impact. A massive tower of smoke arose from the icy water and masked his presence, but Mira emerged from the ocean and shot right into the cloud pile, hitting him straight in the face. He resisted the impact force, although he started bleeding from his nose and head. He grabbed her arm and rammed his knee into her stomach a few times before she managed to break free by slapping him violently with her tail.

Veronius moved away, bringing some distance between the two. Mira was breathing heavily and bleeding from her head and left shoulder. She felt as if her arm had almost been torn from its socket. She could barely move it.

Despite having injuries of his own, Veronius seemed amused. "I look forward to seeing you again in the next round!" he called over the howling of the wind. He flew back to his ship, which was now out of Fairy Tail's way.

But there was something else that worried her. The sun was getting brighter. It was unnatural enough to be under the blazing sun while it was storming, but now the air was starting to get hot—_r__eally_ hot.

Miki and Erza were locked in a two-versus-one battle against some kind of multi-element maker sorceress, a tall woman with short, spiky black hair, a brown fur coat, and long black trousers. She was covered with dozens of rings and accessories, and she used each of them as a device to activate her magic.

She was the worst kind of opponent Erza could face. She specialized in exploiting an enemy's weak spot, and this opponent was about being versatile. Erza thanked God she had Miki at her side, who was just about raw power and had no advantages or disadvantages.

Half of the ship in front of them had sunk and was now blocking the advance of the ship they were on. The Fairy Tail ship, on the other hand, was getting further away each second. Erza would have to find a way to get back there after she took care of this enemy. They were a good ten meters apart, each side waiting for the other to act.

"Water Make…Lightning!" The woman went for another combo attack. She had neither introduced herself nor did they know if she belonged to a guild. But she was easily on the level of a S-rank mage. Erza could really use Mirajane's help right now.

"_Pillar! Stream!_"

A net of water pillars extended between them. Erza knew right away what the woman was doing and switched armor. "_Lightning Emperor Armor!_"

Miki escaped her own way. There were no pillars in front of the woman. Seconds after they had reacted, a massive flow of lightning soared through the water pillars. Erza was shocked quite badly, but the damage was minimal. Miki was hit worse, as she hadn't escaped from the net on time, but she was tough enough to take it.

"_Absolute Zero!_" The water pillars now suddenly froze solid and doubled in size from the expansion. It was almost impossible to move for Miki and Erza to move now.

Erza had enough. She only needed a moment to get this sorted. Miki seemed to be quite annoyed as well. She started to trash and smash everything around her in a fury. This power was why she had the nickname "Demon Princess." The woman backed off, intimidated by the sheer force of the impact every single hit from Miki had. It was like a small explosion every time her fist connected.

Erza freed herself and switched armor again while her enemy was preoccupied with getting away from the Miki's berserker attacks.

"_Giant's Armor!_" Erza summoned a massive spear as well and waited for her chance. It came quickly, as Miki had driven the enemy into a corner with only one way out—up.

The second the sorceress jumped, a pain that was nearly impossible for anyone to bear shot through her body, almost robbing her of consciousness. Erza had pierced the woman's stomach with her spear, the point of the spear pinning her into an ice pillar. The unknown sorceress instantly started to lose massive amounts of blood. That the spear hadn't instantly killed her was surprising.

Erza grabbed Miki, who had stopped running amok the second she saw blood dripping from the sorceress, said a few words to her, and threw her with all her power back in direction to the Fairy Tail ship.

Laki was busy repairing the damage the ship suffered. Long-range explosives, beam attacks, and whatever else had been hitting the ship had left them with quite a bit of damage. They were taking water, but luckily not fast enough to sink. She was surprised when Miki flew straight past her, slammed her hands in the ground, and literally sliced a deep gouge in the deck to stop her momentum.

"Laki!" Miki called. "Where is Mira?"

Meanwhile, Erza now faced a serious problem. The woman had not only _stopped_ bleeding but also moved to go back on the offensive.

"_Titan Strength!_" One of the woman's necklaces shimmered and she pulled the spear out of her stomach with ease. A fountain of blood gushed from the large hole and part of her guts were clearly visible from it. Erza felt a little disgusted.

"_Nymph's Youth!_" Two earrings glittered and Erza watched in fascination as the hole closed and the woman spat out some blood. Erza could tell that a spell like that ought to have tremendously painful effects.

Seconds later, they faced off again. Erza switched armor to her Adamantine Armor, going on the defensive for now. Everyone had a weak point, and this woman ought have one too. But where? The woman had too many elements at her disposal, could heal herself, and who knew what else. A mage of her caliber ought to have considerable fame.

Four rings started glowing at once and the woman drew a huge circle in front of her. Erza recognized it immediately—the forbidden elemental spell Abyss Break. If it hit her, she wouldn't go unscathed even with her Adamantine Armor. And if Erza couldn't injure the woman directly, she would have to go about it in a different way.

Changing to her Flight Armor, Erza reached the enemy in a matter of seconds, surprising the woman.

"Lights out!" Erza grabbed the head of the woman, changed to her Giant's Armor and smashed the woman's head brutally to the ship's deck. There was no way Erza could leave the woman to recover, so she lifted the body of the woman by just her head and smashed her into the ground three more times until the body no longer moved.

Whether that killed her or just knocked her out was not important. Ships approached the small group of two and a half ships Erza was on and they were already firing with long-range projectiles. It was time to move.

And her savior was already in plain sight. Mira was approaching. Erza switched to her Flight Armor to lighten her weight and the demoness grabbed the knight without even stopping. She made a sharp turn upwards and then quickly moved back in direction of the Fairy Tail vessel. Erza saw in the two seconds they flew right upwards why Mira was in such a hurry—there was a gigantic magic circle forming over the three ships, loaded with fire magic.

They weren't fast enough. The spell went off and a massive flame pillar descended from the sky, engulfed the ships, and set them ablaze. The sea below the ships boiled and surged up in huge waves, topped with smoke. Erza had changed in time into her Flame Emperor Armor and had protected Mira by putting up a magic shield. This fight was insane. An attack could come from any time.

A massive galleon, not unlike the one Mirajane had seen with the emblem of the dark guild Divine Monster, was alongside Fairy Tail. Bisca was shooting down intruders from the crow's nest with her sniper rifle. Corpses of mages littered the deck of the ship. Levy had been put out of commission by an enemy officer after she had blasted a massive hole in the enemy vessel's hull with her magic. She was injured, but not too badly, and was below deck.

Lisanna had sealed the entrance to the lower decks with a powerful spell together with her sister, but it wouldn't hold indefinitely. Nobody had the luxury to just stand there and steer. Once someone was attacked, positions switched and someone else took over. The ship did go wild a few times when no one was free, but there wasn't much room for the ship to go off its course anyway.

The enemy was even bigger than Elfman while in his takeover The Beast. It was a humongous thing, with purple fur all over its body and four horns on its head. Levy had called it a Behemoth, but no one else knew exactly what that was.

Elfman was currently going toe-to-toe with the thing, taking punches to his chest and head. He finally got a hold of the enemy's dominant arm, grabbed it with all his power, and waited for Miki's action. The girl jumped right over Elfman and hit the arm with such force that half of the arm burst right open, leaving the arm hanging at half its width from the socket.

But the enemy showed no sign of retreat. Instead, it grabbed Miki with a giant claw and tried to crush her in its hand. Elfman tried to save her, but he wasn't strong enough. Miki screamed in terror and pain when her left arm broke under the pressure. Seconds later, she passed out.

Gray had just finished a battle with a wind elemental user and jumped right on top of the beast. He had to act fast before the monster killed Miki.

"_Ice Make Swords!_" A dozen swords appeared right above him and descended right into the enemy's shoulder. The swords were well aimed and severed most if not all of the muscles in the monster's remaining arm. The gigantic claw opened and the arm went limp. With a tremendous roar, the monster finally retreated, making one giant jump back to its own vessel.

By now Erza and Mira had finally returned and were preparing for the next assault. But there was a much bigger danger heading for them than any enemy. The sun was getting hotter with every second. It had become so hot that the rain itself was starting to evaporate in the air.

Erza recognized the danger. "Laki, Gray, create an ice shield around the ship! Quickly! Cana, I'm going to need your help!" Erza was still wearing her Flame Emperor Armor. She jumped up to the crow's nest and told Bisca to get down and take cover. Cana followed a few seconds after Erza and started adjusting her cards to give Erza all the defensive power she could.

Laki and Gray were barely finished when a magic circle of ridiculous proportions appeared below, above and at each point of a compass around the artificial sun. The explosion devoured all sound and the darkness was blown apart. The sun went critical and exploded into a myriad of fireballs, shooting through the dark clouds upwards.

But the real danger was the wall of fire that extended at tremendous speed into all directions. Eight ships were instantly turned to dust and annihilated. Like Fairy Tail, most ships put up some sort of defensive barrier, but for those that were close to the center of the battle, help came all too late.

The fire devoured everything in its path. The ocean boiled like in a gigantic pot and the firestorm extended beyond their wildest imaginations. Erza waited for the right moment and created a magic shield that covered the entire western side of the ship. She could only keep this up for a few seconds, even with Cana's support.

And then the fire hit them. The air felt thick and heavy, hotter than in a desert, and the light was so blinding that even with their eyes closed shut, the red and yellow of the devastation seared their vision. Erza's shield prevented most of the impact, but the shield exploded into a million tiny fragments seconds after the fire wave hit them. Laki's and Gray's iced-wood shield protected them from the more severe fire, but the sails were turned to dust in seconds and both Erza and Cana were subject to scorching heat in the crow's nest.

Everyone down on deck took cover. The water on the ship evaporated instantly, and the smell of the dead bodies turned into the smell of charcoal. When the fire wave finally passed, and they thought the danger over, something impacted in the water right next to them.

Fireballs rained from the sky, coming right through the clouds and impacting ships and the sea too quickly to react. It was a hail of fire. The rain of destruction and death. Erza did her best to put up a shield whenever a fireball approached, but she couldn't hold up for long.

When the fire rain finally subsided, the guild looked at the battlefield and saw destruction far beyond anything they could have imagined. Not many ships had survived the incredible blast. The burning wreckage of ships surrounded them. The stench of death was all present and dominating. The first round of the Elunos Tournament was over, and Fairy Tail had barely survived.

The darkness of the rain and the clouds returned not even five minutes after the explosion had ripped the roof of clouds apart. The rain returned a thousand times harder than before, and lightning started to strike endlessly on the ocean.

There were several minutes of fear and anxiety before they saw familiar lightning flash in the distance. Seconds later, a messenger from Elunos stood before Erza. She jumped up, about to beat him to a pulp, but Mira held her back.

The man handed Erza a silver envelope. "Congratulations, participants of Vessel Sixty-Two. You are hereby qualified for Round Two."

### End of Epoch II ###


	3. Dist's Purgatory I

A/N: I ask you now to be patient for chapter 4 because it might take a little longer than usual. I lost over 10 pages writing on it due to a PC crash and I'm feeling a little demotivated writing all of that again.

**Scarlet Lily**

Epoch III

_Dist's Purgatory I_

The battle was over for now. Bisca had volunteered to stay on deck and steer, asking to be informed of the letter's contents as soon as they had read it. The storm was raging as violently as before now that the artificial sun was gone, and yet it was much more difficult to navigate the waters now. Wrecked ships were all over the place. The mixture of the smells of death and burned flesh created a truly disgusting stench that polluted the air.

The spell to keep the interior of the ship stable had thankfully not been damaged. They had all stayed together to read the letter. They were soaked, cold, and hurt, but who knew what else Elunos was going to throw at them.

"_Congratulations, participants, for successfully surviving Round One of the Elunos Tournament! We are delighted to announce that you have qualified as one of the top five participants in Round One. The silver envelope is proof of that._

"_The next round will be held on an uninhabited island slightly south of Elunos. It will be the final round before the finalists advance to Elunos itself. Upon touching the envelope and speaking the words 'Elunos Eluni', the envelope will transform into a compass that will lead you safely to the island. Everything else will be explained at the site of the match. Failure to arrive at the site in less than twenty hours will result in disqualification._"

An ear-piercing silence dominated the room. They all knew there was no easy way out of this. Twenty hours until they would be thrown into battle again. If they hadn't been so tired and injured, they would have voiced complaints. But their survival instincts told them to just take it and rest. One after another, members of the group left, the silence remaining as if it were an iron rule they couldn't break. In the end, only Erza and Mira remained in the room.

"I'll tell Bisca. I got away relatively unscathed, I'll relieve her." Mirajane grabbed the envelope and transformed it into a compass as the letter had told them. She was no less tired than the others, but she felt responsible for this.

Erza grabbed the wrist of her partner before she could leave. "I don't think that's necessary. Look."

Erza pointed out the window toward the horizon. Mira couldn't see anything…until the next lightning bolt came down and its light showed that they were approaching a massive shadow. It was much too big to be a ship.

"We're already here." Erza had an ominous feeling about this. Why had they given twenty hours if they were this close? What purpose did the envelope serve? Maybe not everyone had gone in the right direction after the last battle. And she had other worries for now.

Erza and Mira met Elfman and Gray on their way up. They had not yet gone to sleep. Since they were already at the destination of the next battle anyway, there was no time to rest.

The rain outside seemed more fierce than ever, but it was likely just their imagination. Thunderbolts and lightning rolled through the clouds every few seconds. The sky had turned into a gigantic firework of danger. The isle was so close that they could make out its shape and part of its size. Erza assisted Bisca in steering, while Mirajane, Gray and Elfman prepared for landing the ship. There were only a few ships already docked. Out of those few, there was one that Mirajane recognized—the massive galleon the man called Veronius belonged to. There was no doubt that his group was down there.

Seconds after the landing, Elfman and Gray started to tie the ship down to some of the massive rocks at the coast. The whole island was surrounded by a beach with large, steep rock formations. It was like they were there on purpose to be used to tie down ships in this rough and violent sea.

A silver flash of light, a familiar sight by now, drew the attention of everyone on deck to the steering wheel, where Erza was once again confronted by what seemed like an official of the Elunos Tournament.

"This round consists of two parts. You will have to form a team of six people. Those six will be the chosen people to enter the island and fight. The rest must remain on the ship. Do not worry, their safety is guaranteed by our leader, Mask. You have forty minutes to choose your team. You need to send in at least one person and can take a maximum of five others with you. At least one person has to remain on the ship. I, the judge of this round, will teleport you to your starting position in forty minutes. Return to this spot with your assembled team by then." The official vanished in another flash.

Erza would have killed to learn that magic. Instant teleportation across vast distances was something very, very powerful.

Erza and Bisca were the only ones who knew of the rules for now. It was time to round everyone up. But before that, Erza would need to speak with Mirajane. It was better they chose the members beforehand and only woke those people up, letting the injured sleep.

Mira, Erza, Gray, Elfman, and Bisca were the only ones in the meeting room. Erza explained briefly what the official had told her. Elfman and Gray were quick to offer to go, Elfman even demanding so. But this was up to Mira and Erza. They were the ones carrying the responsibility of choosing who would go and who would remain.

"Erza and I will both go." Mirajane made that clear from the beginning. "Elfman, you will come with us. Gray, you will remain here. You exhausted yourself too much in the last battle." Mirajane watched Gray object with an angry expression, but he swallowed his words. He knew she was right, but it still hurt and pissed him off.

"Natsu and Alzack are both uninjured and they need to get off the ship anyway," Erza said, deciding the fourth and fifth member of their party. The question was who else they'd take. Cana was not a bad choice, but neither was Laki or Levy. They had to take into account how much magic power people had used up and how injured they were. Happy was out of the question. He was a valuable partner to Natsu, but besides that…

Gray refused to leave and go to sleep before he knew who else was going. It pissed him off even more that Natsu was going while he was stuck here. Elfman, on the other hand, was quite satisfied that he could go. He was the type to love situations where he could prove himself.

"Erza, how is Miki?" Mirajane had already ruled out Laki and Cana, as they had used too much magic power. If only Lucy were with them. She would've been a great asset in both situations with her spirits.

"Not too bad, but she took some damage during the last battle. I think it's best we take either Levy or Bisca with us." Erza ruled out Lisanna from a gut feeling. Mirajane would be too preoccupied with looking out for her sister if she came along.

"Take Levy with you. She'd be more useful than I would. I noticed in the last battle how much the weather affected my magic. I'm not kidding." Bisca didn't like to turn down being in the same party as Alzack, but they were all trying to be level-headed. To survive.

"No, you'll come with us. I have a feeling that there's more to that island than we can see." Mirajane acted on a gut feeling and took Bisca's hand. "I have a feeling we won't have to worry about the rain. And I don't trust Levy to be fine on her own if it comes down to it."

Bisca felt flattered and nodded. She would give her best. To form a party with Titania, Salamander, The Beast, and Alzack was quite something.

"For all purposes, we will form two teams. Elfman and Natsu will remain with me, while Alzack and Bisca will go with you, Erza." Mirajane was trying to divide up the strengths. "In case we're separated, try to meet up with others. _Do not fight alone_. There are some tremendously dangerous enemies out there."

She didn't need to tell them that. Elfman and Bisca both knew that the people who had attacked them were not joking around. They had run into something far beyond their control. Head on, without brakes.

"I kind of want to leave Natsu behind because he's not going to listen to me, but he and Alzack are the only ones who aren't injured." Erza was worried that Natsu might get himself killed, but he was strong, and he always overcame his enemies.

"We have about thirty minutes until we have to show up on deck. Prepare for departure, get some rest, eat something." Mirajane walked over to the kitchen and fired up the oven. They were going to be out in the cold rain for some time, so she wanted something warm to eat.

Finally, Gray left, together with Elfman and Bisca. There was nothing he could do for now, so he might as well get as much rest as he could so that he would be in perfect condition for the next battle. Elfman and Bisca both headed to their own rooms.

Erza and Mira were left alone again. They had both suffered injuries and exhausted part of their magic in the last battle, but they were still the strongest members on board. If only Gildartz, Mystogan, or even Laxus were with them, this would be much easier. Regardless of whether they got along with the rest of the guild, they were strong and useful.

"Why do you think they are limiting us to six people?" Erza sat down at the kitchen counter and watched Mira boil some noodles.

"The last battlefield was the open ocean and between ships. Now it's on an island. They have to reduce the numbers somehow without flooding the land with people." Mira put some seasoning in the water and closed the lid. She leaned against the kitchen counter, facing Erza.

"I think there's more to it. They said that one person has to stay behind on the ship. What about ships that only have three or four people left? Or only one? What do they do?"

Erza found it hard to deal with these rules. Basically everything that was not explicitly stated in the rules was allowed, from what she could tell. So going and joining another team was not out of the question. Or even selling your own teammates off to another team. This tournament could turn friends against each other in the blink of an eye.

"It's useless to try and find out for now. We'll see what this is all about in less than half an hour. Do you want your noodles al dente or soft?" Mirajane was more fixated on her cooking than the tournament for now. They would have to concentrate on fighting soon enough. The whole incident reminded her a lot of the many desperate fights against Zeref's legions.

"At least the people on the ship will be safe." Erza felt a lot more comfortable knowing that everyone else on the ship was going to be fine. Protecting five people was easier than eleven. Especially if she had to protect a ship as well.

Mirajane had her doubts about that. Those people didn't want anyone leaving this place. It was just a gut feeling, but Mira felt something strange behind all of this. Like they were walking around in a giant spiderweb that was just part of an even bigger web, of something dark and unknown. There was definitely something crawling around. Something in Elunos.

"I've been thinking," Erza said. "It's odd that this happened, isn't it? The whole Elunos thing, I mean. I remember hearing about the island in legends and from people in pubs, but I never actually heard of anyone going there and coming back, much less an actual tournament of some sort." Erza too, had a weird feeling about the whole thing. It had only become stronger after the battle.

"Then where does all the info about the place come from? But you're right. There is something strange about Elunos. Also…I just had a terrible thought. What if we aren't the only ones Syrnafir sent back? If this Elunos event didn't happen just randomly? What if there is someone in Elunos that pulling the strings for this? Someone that was in the same future we were. Someone on _Zeref's_ side." Mira checked on her noodles and tested some with a fork. They were almost done.

"I'd rather not think about that, Mira. Let's just hope we will never have to think about it in the future, either." Erza walked over to Mira and looked over her shoulder. "Are they done yet?"

"Almost done." Mira put the lid back on the pot. Distracting themselves with seemingly pointless things was one of their means of changing the topic. Things they had longed for in their own future. Given their past and what they had gone through, their minds were rarely free of anxiety and thoughts regarding the future.

"Mira, have you ever thought about learning re-equip magic?" Erza was concerned for Mira's safety, and she had already thought about ordering armor specifically for her lover.

"Not really. You think I even _could_ learn it? Isn't it a type of innate magic, like takeover magic?" Mira knew that while people could learn transformation magic, true takeover magic was something one could only learn if they were born with the potential for it.

"I don't want you to learn real and original re-equip, I want you to learn using mine." Erza was always together with Mira, and they watched out for each other. Transformation magic was not very useful for Erza, who relied on her body and her armors so much. On the other hand, Mira could profit from armors and weapons a lot if they were made for her specifically.

"You mean, use re-equip magic for your armors and weapons?" Mira found it odd that Erza was suggesting this. She was relying on her takeover for power, and she could always increase her range of takeover forms. But it was difficult to find compatible demons. She couldn't just take over everything, and weak demons would be no help at all.

"The noodles are done. We can talk about that later, Erza." Mira opened the pot, picked out a noodle with a fork and tried it. They were good. Erza handed her two plates. They didn't have time to sit down and enjoy. They simply scarfed down two large helpings of noodles. At least it was something, even if it was very plain.

Erza finished first, putting her dish in the cupboard and looking out of the small window. It was about time they got moving. Mira finished up as well and followed after Erza.

The ship was rather quiet, despite the fact that six of them were heading out into battle now. Erza and Mira stopped by Natsu and Alzack's room and picked the two seasick people up. They had to actually carry them. Happy was not too pleased that he had to stay behind, but he had heard how bad the battle on deck had been. He didn't object too much.

Elfman and Bisca were already on deck, waiting. Bisca had asked Levy to keep on as lookout after they were gone. They hadn't bothered to take their raincoats with them. They were going to battle, not for a stroll. They waited for roughly two minutes in total silence until the familiar flash of light showed itself and the official stood before them.

"Team Five, is it? Six people, all there? Very well then!" He snapped his fingers and he vanished in a blinding light, uncomfortable to the eyes after the permanent darkness of the storm.

When they could finally see again, they were in a very tiny room that had no openings to any side. A single torch on the wall lit up the room, throwing large and deformed shadows on the walls.

"I shall now explain the rules. This island is called Dist. It harbors one of the largest underground labyrinths in the world. The exact measures are unknown even to us, but we know that there are seven distinct levels in general. This game is about qualification. To advance to the next round, a team must qualify for it by utilizing at least one of the following three methods.

"First—there is a powerful demon on each level that possesses a token you must retrieve. The token has to be undamaged and recognizable. You can kill the demon and take the token to qualify for the next round. You can also kill an enemy team that holds a token to steal it from them. There is only one demon on each level, so that makes a total of six teams that can possibly advance with this method.

"Second—at the very bottom of this labyrinth waits the guardian of a legendary treasure. To claim the treasure is a way to advance. Only one team can advance like this, and once the treasure is taken, the team will instantly be teleported outside.

"Third—taking out enemy teams is another way to advance. A team is taken out when none of their members are left alive. The fourteen teams with the most kills will also advance.

"In the event that one team holds multiple qualifications, they will be granted a bonus upon arrival in Elunos. The round ends either when all teams have qualified, or when the judge sees it futile to continue."

The official finally ended his long explanation, waited a few seconds if anyone had questions, then left in a flash of light. But they were still stuck in the room.

Natsu and Alzack were finally coming around. It seemed to take this long because of their extended duration on the ship.

"What's going on? Where are we? Who was that old dude?" Natsu was kind of a pain to deal with, but Erza swore that he was useful.

Bisca explained everything to Alzack while Natsu got the short version from Elfman. Erza spent her time searching for a way out of the room. The walls looked brand new. This room had been built not too long ago. Maybe a few hours ago, even. And it was built with magic.

"I'm going to break the wall," Erza told the others. "Be ready for whatever is behind this."

Erza switched to her Purgatory armor, Elfman and Mirajane both changed to their takeovers, and Natsu was literally burning up with excitement. Alzack and Bisca stayed in the back, aiming above and below Erza. And with a single powerful punch, Erza smashed the wall into a thousand pieces.

What waited behind them was beyond their wildest imaginations. The island looked small from the outside, from what they could tell, but before them was an area much, much bigger than the surface—an underground forest inside a cave. Trees grew from the ceiling as well as the walls. No one could tell if they were standing on the ground or on the walls.

Erza carefully examined the situation. There was nobody in sight. Right before them were gigantic trees, easily sixty meters high, with trunks at least twenty meters wide. The cave was illuminated by fluorescent plants everywhere.

"An ancient forest." Bisca had heard of those. She walked a few steps and looked up. "They are said to house creatures from eons ago, when the world was still young. I never thought they actually existed." Bisca turned around, smiling, and lifted a finger to her lips. "I heard about this from Levy."

"What do we do now?" Erza looked at the others. They obviously had to fulfill one of the qualifications—the tokens, the treasure, or go on a killing spree. The first and second sounded the most dangerous, but Erza ruled out number three right away. She didn't want the others to become like her and Mira.

"I say we just take out the demons and take the treasure. A real man doesn't fret in face of a challenge!" Elfman was on with it again. And as soon as Natsu heard "treasure" he was all fired up as well.

"I'm in favor of taking the treasure, Erza," Mira said and was supported by Alzack and Bisca. The option of being teleported out of this maze was pretty tempting.

"I don't think this will be easy, but if we all work together, it shouldn't be too dangerous." Erza was a little worried, though. Demons? The last demons she remembered seeing were from Zeref…they couldn't have something like them down here, could they?

They walked in a random direction for over an hour without seeing any living being or enemy. The forest was so thick and high that the ends of the trees from the ceiling and the ground almost reached each other. There was no horizon over the tree tops. There was only more forest.

After another thirty minutes marching, they finally found something. Dead people. It was a small clearing, created by a huge explosion or something. The fight looked like it had been pretty bad. Five people were down, and there was a big blood pool at the edge of the clearing that probably belonged to the sixth member.

From the looks of it, the five had all been killed by the same person. They all had deep stab wounds and their hearts and skulls had been pierced. Erza couldn't tell if it was a sword or spear had made the wounds since they were too large. Whoever used the weapons must have had enormous physical power.

Erza was examining the fourth body again when it suddenly burst into flame. The body ignited _itself_. It was a matter of seconds until the corpse had turned to ashes.

"The judges don't want the teams to find out who is down and who isn't." Mirajane felt reminiscent of her days in the burned and destroyed Fiore. Sights like this were an everyday occurrence there.

A deep, powerful, and thunderous roar echoed through the forest. Something very big seemed to be having a very bad day. Or it was hunting something. To make matters worse, mist was rising up quickly from the forest floor, obstructing their view. The mist was heavy and thick but seemed natural. The roaring echoed a few more times and then…silence. A few seconds passed, and there was no more roaring. Either the demon had fallen…or he had just had breakfast.

This whole trial was completely different from the last round. Over two hours had passed and they had only seen a few corpses. It was tiring to stay on guard the whole time, even more so when traveling with a group. Erza kept all of them together, two small groups of three people each.

"Aren't we going to find the enemy? I'm bored to death." Natsu was rather carefree about the promised danger, much to Erza's irritation. By now they had split into a formation to walk. Erza was leading them, Natsu and Elfman following her side by side. After them came Bisca and Alzack, with Mirajane covering the rear.

Three hours passed and everyone started to get tired of marching. They couldn't even tell if they were walking in circles or not. There had to be a way down somewhere, but people were starting to get hungry and thirsty.

Another roar, this time a little weaker than before, echoed through the forest after four hours of walking. They had stopped looking for enemies and were now searching for food and water. There was no night or day in this place. Sleeping was an extremely dangerous activity in an area like this, especially with probably hundreds of people hunting for each other. But even Fairy Tail mages had their limits.

They finally found a small river populated with ugly and weird fish they had never seen before. It had already been six hours now, and people were tired. Bisca and Alzack secured food. Natsu was responsible for lighting a fire, and Mirajane was in charge of roasting the fish. Natsu also served as guinea pig, since he was probably the one with the toughest stomach.

The fish didn't turn out to be poisonous but they tasted incredibly disgusting. It was like eating poop or worse. Nevertheless, an empty stomach made everything taste good to some degree. In the end, they decided to camp at the spot. The river was a good tactical location, as it provided food and was a source of drinkable water. Two people at a time could sleep for two hours before they switched. Erza and Bisca took the first shift in order to balance out their fighting power.

Natsu was bored out of his mind and started asking questions about what happened before they'd arrived on the island. Elfman more or less explained the important details, but it was Mira who made clear just how extremely dangerous their situation was. The people that survived until now were all of considerable power.

Of course, telling Natsu that there was a strong enemy out there was not the best way to warn him of danger, but it seemed like he at least understood enough to not run off on his own. Mirajane was actually surprised about this. She had heard how Natsu dealt with situations like this from Erza. For instance, during the attack on Oración Seis, he'd simply run off. Mira was worried about how much this tournament event might change the personalities and power of the people involved.

"Elfman, Natsu. Keep watch. I'm going to take a look around. If you hear any suspicious sounds, like roars, explosions and such, wake up the others immediately and go after the sound." Mira changed to her takeover quietly and jumped over the river. She had a faint feeling there was someone in the area beside them.

Natsu and Elfman were left alone, both bored with themselves. "Hey, Elfman. Did you fight someone strong in the last fight?" Natsu was interested in the ship battle, annoyed that he couldn't participate.

"There were some seriously strong people. But nothing a real man can't handle." Elfman left out the little detail that there had been one monstrous guy that he hadn't been able to beat alone—the Behemoth. Even he knew better than to fire up Natsu's fighting spirit anymore than this.

"I wonder if I'll get to fight someone strong. Maybe there'll even be another dragon slayer!" Natsu wasn't taking the whole thing seriously. Elfman had already seen that this was not about fair one versus one fights; this tournament was just about annihilating the enemy with everything one had. He just hoped they wouldn't run into the maniac who'd created that artificial sun in the middle of the ocean.

There was not much to talk about. Natsu caught a few more fish, sad that he had to leave Happy behind. Happy had stayed with Natsu for the whole time, and now Natsu had to leave him behind. Happy was probably sulking in their room.

Elfman kept watch. Erza and Bisca were sleeping on a makeshift bed of wild plant branches they had pulled together so they wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground.

Twenty minutes passed, and Natsu finally gave up catching any more fish. Once he was somewhat satisfied and not hungry anymore, the fish started to taste so disgusting that he felt like throwing up just looking at them. He wondered if Happy would like one as a souvenir.

Mirajane, on the other hand, was busy. She had found an enemy camp made up of six people, just like her own group. Six people, all men of between the ages of twenty and thirty. But there was only one guard and they were camping in the middle of the forest thicket. Mira spent a great deal of effort on not getting spotted and cautiously made her way around. The group had no guild emblem. But that didn't matter.

She was only a few steps behind him, having avoided making any sounds. From the looks of it, this guy had been keeping watch for a while now. His face showed his fatigue. Mira no longer any qualms about fighting people to survive. That part of her had been lost back in the old version of Fiore.

With a single, lightning-fast movement, Mira grabbed the man's neck, exerted her full power to her grip, and snapped the man's neck. He was dead instantly. But Mira was not going to do things half assed. Using her hand like a blade, she pierced the throat of the man and cut off his head whole.

Blood dripped from her arm as she quietly walked to the next one. None of them had woken up. The next one was lying on the ground, which would make it difficult to snap his neck before he could make a sound. In that case…Mira concentrated dark energy in her right hand and rammed it into the man's throat like a cutthroat blade, destroying his vocal cords and more than half of his throat.

Then, all of a sudden, there was movement. At the other side of the camp, a man had woken up and was rubbing his eyes. He didn't look in the direction of his two dead comrades and instead got up and walked to a nearby tree, unzipping his trousers. Mira had simply ascended into the air the second she noticed movement.

Thankfully, he hadn't noticed that there were only four members of his group left now. And in a few seconds, there would be only three.

Mira floated down quietly right behind the man, who was still busy taking a piss. He finally noticed her when it was too late. The second he tried to turn around, an energy blast took off his entire head and pulverized it. He died in an instant.

Three more. Mira was covered with blood by now, but that didn't bother her much. The remaining three had not woken up.

The next man died the same way his sleeping friend had. His head was cut off in an instant, and a pool of blood started to flow from the hole. The next enemy proved to be difficult. He was sleeping in such an awkward position, hands over his head as if he were cowering in fear, that it was impossible to snap his neck or cut off his head. Mira left him alone for now and went to the other of the remaining two.

Whoever they had been, down here, they were enemies and were granted no mercy. Mira knew that the others probably wouldn't approve of cowardly tactics like this, _especially_ not Natsu, but that was the reason she had gone alone.

The last one was leaning against a gigantic root, sleeping sitting up. This position made it difficult to kill him instantly. Mira was not going take the risk of fighting one of them.

Erza would have had an easier time here; she could simply pierce their hearts or set up swords to pierce all of them simultaneously. But Mira didn't want for Erza to dirty her hands with this. She would have plenty of time to do that with the enemies they'd eventually meet.

Mira decided to make absolutely sure he would not make a sound and grabbed the throat of the sixth member with both her hands, exerting so much pressure that the man's throat was crushed in a matter of seconds, his eyes rolling back. He was still twitching and Mira decided to finish him off. A single well-aimed stab with her claws, and the man's heart was destroyed.

That left only the other guy. He was still in the same awkward position, but now that everyone else was dead, she could stop bothering with the silence. She wrapped her tail around the man's neck. He woke up in an instant and tried to get free, realizing quickly that he was being attacked. But Mira was too strong.

"Darkness Stream." Mira casually used her spell and blew a hole of at least twenty centimeters through the torso of her enemy, destroying both lungs and the heart of the man. Blood splattered everywhere.

She threw the corpse away. It was useful that corpses started to burn on their own, but she couldn't risk someone finding them in the meantime. Pulling one corpse after another, she threw all of them into the river, making sure she was at least hundred meters south of her own camp. After the last head was found and disposed of, Mira went into the river herself, cleaning the blood from her hair and body. There would be uncomfortable questions if she showed up like the way she was.

When Mirajane finally returned to her camp, over an hour had passed—and her group members were gone. There was no sign that they had ever camped there. No sign of a fight, either. What was going on?

### Scarlet Lily ###

Erza was woken up roughly by the impact of crashing against stone. It took her a couple of seconds to recognize where she was.

A cave. A tremendously large cave. Erza was on guard right away. She had changed to a normal armor before she went to sleep, but that was hardly sufficient in here. Changing to Purgatory, Erza carefully looked around.

There was no one there. None of her friends, no enemies, no wild beasts, no demons. Nothing at all. She looked up to see that the ceiling was at least twenty meters above her and that there was no opening. But the impact had barely hurt her. At most, she could have fallen half a meter, if not less. But where was she? She ruled out illusionary magic right away. What was the use of trapping her with such magic and then just dropping her into a gigantic cave?

This was real. It must be one of the other levels of the labyrinth. But where were the others? She didn't know if she had been knocked out while asleep, so it was hard to say what time it was. The cave was very dark but occasional crystals on all sides gave off a little bit of dim light. The cave was closed to all sides. But there had to be a way up…or down. After all, she had somehow come down here.

Without any leads, Erza simply headed in the direction she had first faced when she'd woken up. She changed to her more speed-orientated flight armor. Even though her mobility alone was not as high as Mirajane's, she was quite fast. It was quite cold in the cave with such a scanty armor. But she couldn't be bothered by that. Not after enduring the rain and winds of Elunos' Cyclone Forest for so long.

There was nothing around her except for rock formations in all shapes and sizes and large and small crystals. No traces of any plant life or animal life. If this was in the labyrinth, there must be a demon here too. But there was no sign anything had passed this way.

Erza had passed a small alcove when the her instincts told her to hide. Trusting her intuition, Erza hid in the alcove. A few seconds later, a man passed by, running as if his life depended on it and looking back every few seconds.

But he wasn't being chased. What was wrong? Erza could not see too far in the direction the man had come from, and she was unable to see what he looked like, but she was clearly able to see what happened to him.

He screamed out in panic, and then in pain. Something lifted him up high in the air, five meters, eight meters, until he stopped rising. His cries sent a chill down Erza's spine. She could hear the sound of a human body being crushed by raw force. And then, suddenly, half of his upper torso, including head, was missing and replaced by a bloody mess. His shoulders were gone and his arms fell to the ground like crumbs from food.

A terrible sound filled Erza's ears—crunching, as if someone were eating roasted bread that had been on the fire much too long. The man, or what was left of him, was being eaten by something. From the sheer height, whatever it was must be at least nine to ten meters tall. There was no way to tell any of its characteristics beside its height. It was invisible. Erza could only think of one conclusion.

_This_ was one of the demons they were supposed to hunt. But how in the world were they supposed to fight something that could crush people with bare hands and such ease when it was completely _invisible?_ Erza kept a low profile for now, hiding in the alcove for twenty minutes until she thought it safe. There was no way of telling. The demon made no sound walking, breathing or howling. And it was invisible.

Erza kept to the shadows, outside the range of the crystals' light, to avoid detection. She traveled further in the same direction as before, assuming the demon had gone into the opposite direction. Ten minutes passed without any sign of the demon. But there were no other people either. How big _was_ this cave? If the cave was below sea level, it could extend almost indefinitely. There were legends of gargantuan caves below the ocean which one could travel for all their life without finding a way out.

Time passed and Erza continued to travel. It had been over an hour now since she'd first woken up in this place. Hopefully the others were all safe. But the possibility that everyone had been split up was there.

That had actually been her worst fear, that the man who'd gotten killed by the demon had been all alone just increased the chances that exactly the same situation had befallen him. There was no sign of a fight, and Erza would have noticed something if magicians had fought a demon, even from a distance.

There was something very odd about this. Erza reached a part of the cavern where all four walls were seamed with stone pillars and formations. It looked like it had been massive stone at some point and worms had eaten most of it. She jumped over deep gap in the ground, landing on something like a giant stone pillar. The second she could see through the darkness down below, she threw herself to the ground for cover.

Enemies. There were four of them, but they seemed to be from different teams. Erza tried to get a better look, but it was too dark. She could have sworn there was a pool of blood on the ground right behind two of the four.

Three women and one man were attacking each other. Their attacks were rather indiscriminate, making the fight quite a brawl. None were allied. Erza decided to wait a bit before she went in. No need to waste her energy.

It only took a couple seconds for one woman to lose her head to some kind of air magic slicing attack. The man blasted a hole straight through the stomach of another woman with fire magic. The two remainders faced off and decided to call it quits. Or so Erza assumed, since they walked away in different directions. The woman was barely out of her field of vision when Erza saw the man drop to the ground and slowly dissolve like melting ice.

Erza stayed on top of the rock formations, stayed in her flight armor, and made a few more jumps in the direction the woman had gone. She was right above her.

"That take cares of them. I wonder if any of those people were leaders. They didn't seem that strong, though. I hope I won't run into that demon ag—" The woman's breath stopped when a sharp blade grazed her throat. Erza was holding her life in her hands.

"How did you get here?" Erza wasn't one to play around in such situations. The woman didn't answer and Erza stabbed the woman's left foot in cold blood. "Who were those people you just fought?" The woman cursed and hissed. Blood dripped from her foot.

"Enemies. The same thing you are. We're _all_ enemies here." That didn't help much.

"Where is this place? I know we're inside the labyrinth; I encountered the demon. Where is the rest of your team?" Erza wasn't getting an answer. She violently grabbed the woman's left arm and broke her forearm. The woman cried out in pain until Erza covered her mouth with her free hand, the sword blade still only millimeters from her throat. "_Answer the question_."

"This is one of the lower levels of the labyrinth, you whore. The fifth or sixth, I don't know exactly. I got no idea where my team is. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell scum like you." The woman tried to keep a straight face, but the pain was overwhelming her. The only reason she was able to keep standing was that falling down would sever her head from her body.

"How do I get back to the forest level?" Erza grabbed the woman's other arm when she didn't answer for a few seconds.

"_I don't know!_ I was teleported down here right when my team was fighting another! I got no idea if there even is an exit at all!" She was desperate for her life. But Erza didn't want to let go of someone who could potentially come back to haunt her. A clean cut, and blood sprayed all over Erza's face and armor. The woman had lost her head.

Erza went back to search for the place where the corpses of the other people had turned to ashes, but was unable to find it. At least she knew she was on one of the lower levels and that it wasn't just her own team who got separated. It was a miracle that as many as six people managed to meet each other in this cave.

But this brought up another problem. Running around in search of an exit wasn't very likely to bear results. She spotted a small cave inside one of the rock formations. There Erza hid and thought about her next course of action. If worst came to be, she'd have to wait and see if the players were teleported again.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Mirajane found herself in quite a predicament. There was no trace of Erza and the others, and on top of that, she had been attacked by a couple who'd used wind magic. It wasn't much of a fight. Mirajane had used her Soul Extinction magic to blast them to ashes. She didn't have the time for secrecy and long fights right now.

Flying over the top of the trees proved futile, as she couldn't see the ground that way, so there was no easy way to search for the others. She decided she'd take the next enemy she encountered hostage and get some information out of him.

This had turned into something much worse than just a fight. She was, most likely, alone with the enemy in this forest. And there was the demon, too. Its roar was louder than ever, and it was slowly coming closer. Mirajane figured she could at least get a good look at the monster.

Using the trees on the ceiling as cover, Mirajane went further to what she believed was south. The forest was a lot clearer here and trees were not as dominating as they had been in the area the group had started in. It was actually possible to see the ground between the majestic trees.

She eventually found the demon. It wasn't as big as she thought it would be—maybe six or seven meters in height. The upper half was a snake's long body and head, while the lower half was that of a spider. It looked like someone used magic to merge a cobra with a tarantula. It was disgusting to behold. And it was fighting something.

The mobility of the demon was amazing. It could not only turn its head easily to its back, it was also quick. It was totally pointless to try and outrun it in a forest this thick. It was using some kind of weird magic to shift through trees, causing no damage to the forest. None at all.

A salve of magic missiles of unknown affinity crashed against the snake part and caused a small fire to start on its body. The demon cried out and suddenly spat poison. The poison melted both the tree it hit and the ground below it. There were many holes in the ground, but apparently none big enough to reach the lower levels.

The demon calmed down considerably after the poison attack and slowly lowered his snake head to the ground to pick up a body. And then it spotted Mirajane. It was just a feeling, but the thing looked straight at her, even though she was well hidden between the trees above. It could never reach her there, but it still looked at her. Snakes had an excellent sense of smell, so hiding visually was useless. Mirajane realized that too late.

She didn't want to attack it. It was too dangerous to fight it alone. The monster must have killed several people by now, if not whole teams. That poison attack was something to look out for. And getting bitten by those teeth most likely meant instant death as well.

Mira commenced on a tactical retreat. And she found it. A way out of the forest. A set of spiral stairs, ending in the middle of the air, came out of the ceiling from between the tree's roots. It was so well hidden that it was completely impossible to see from below. Mira was lucky she could fly.

As she ascended the stairs, Mira figured the rock between this level and the next was at least fifty meters. That was way too thick to break through with any means, magical or not. Who knew what kind of effect breaking the ceiling would have beside opening a hole?

What awaited her above was more surprising to her. Darkness. Absolute darkness. There was no light beside the dim light that shone through the small opening in the ground. Mira could barely see a few meters ahead. The ground was littered with debris from what she assumed were half-ruined buildings. Ascending into the air and taking a look revealed nothing. It was much too dark here. Mira wished her takeover covered night vision. Lisanna would've been really helpful here.

To go down and back to the demon, or to stay up here and look around were the only two options Mira had. This level must be really close to the surface, as she could hear the very faint sound of rain hitting the ground when she was in the air. The cave itself was about as high as the one below, Mira guessed, after hitting her head trying to find out just how high the cave was.

Staying up here was barely an option. She couldn't _see_. Any enemy that could see in the dark would have an easy job taking her out up here. There was also the question if there even was a way down from the forest level. This wasn't a just labyrinth, this was a miniature world.

Mira guessed that the dark ruins were either the first or second subterranean level of the labyrinth. So to speak, level one or two for the ruins, and one deeper for the forest. That also meant there were at least three more levels below the forest. A total of six demons…if the others had run into one of those, they'd be in danger. Even Erza wasn't invincible.

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed since the separation. And it became increasingly difficult to tell how long this battle already lasted. It was less of a battle and more of a survival game, in Mira's eyes.

For now, Mira took a small break in the middle of the stairs, between the levels. She could not hear the snake demon's howl from where she was, or the demon was simply being silent. It was a total mystery to her how something so big and massive could move through the trees like that. It should leave a trail of destruction, yet the only actual damage it did was the poison.

Mira had learned not to underestimate demons. Not after Zeref had unleashed an whole army of them onto Fiore. To go up against one on her own was crazy and suicidal. Mira knew better than to do that. For now, she had to find the others, especially Erza. Together with her and maybe Elfman and Natsu, they could try to take down a demon. Bisca and Alzack were more useful as backup against enemies, though.

The demon's roar filled the air and broke the silence. Mira descended to the trees below and hid in a thick treetop, looking around. She had thought about trying a takeover on the demons, but this one didn't seem particularly useful. Not to mention it was dangerous to do that without severely weakening the demon first. Mira didn't want to repeat the incident from when Elfman went out of control.

What she saw was a tremendous beast wrestling with the demon. "Elfman!"

The forest around the demon itself was ablaze with flames so hot that the air felt like it was burning as well. If Natsu _and_ Elfman were fighting the demon, then this was no time to sit around and hide.

Mirajane let out a war cry that let her allies know of her presence and flew straight at the demon. Elfman had taken his largest form, but was still smaller than the monster and had difficultly keeping it from biting him. Natsu was attacking the lower body with so much force that the spider part was partially on fire. The snake head finally got free and was about to bite right into Elfman's shoulder when Mira literally crashed into it, punching it.

Elfman let out a roar, turned and grabbed the snake's mouth, keeping it shut by sheer brute force. Mirajane sensed impending danger and ascended right away. About twenty meters away from the demon was an unusually large tree whose crown was like a platform. On top of it were Bisca and Alzack.

"Charge complete. Mode change. _Legend Destroyer!_" Bisca's rifle changed form and started to grow rapidly until it became so heavy that she had to use the massive branch below her to support the weapon. The final shape resembled a rifle with four barrels, all of them thicker than the entire weapon it had been before. "Alzack!" Bisca still had to aim the charged shots.

"I got it." Alzack had already prepared for this. He had learned a few tricks from Erza while they were on the ship.

"_Bullet Storm!_" He stood firm on the highest branch, aiming roughly at the snake and firing so rapidly that he was through the whole sixty-shot magazine in mere seconds. But that wasn't enough. He had prepared multiple guns beforehand.

"Reload!" The old guns vanished and were replaced by new ones. What happened was a never-ending hail of bullets hitting the snake. Hundreds of bullets pierced the reptile skin.

He was finally out of ammo when Bisca had finished adjusting her aim. "Legend Destroyer…_fire!_"

The recoil from the blast was so big that the whole three bent in its way. A bullet easily the size of a person flew straight at the snake, impacting the snake body, shredding a big hole into it.

"Legend Destroyer…_fire!_" The next bullet hit the head of the demon straight on. Roughly one third of its head was now missing. But Bisca wasn't taking chances. "_Fire! Fire!_"

Two more shots flew straight at the head, resulting in a gory mess. Elfman was splattered in demon blood and flesh. The end of the snake head was completely gone.

The thing was dead. The lower body was burned so badly that several of the spider's legs had turned to ash.

Bisca reverted mode to normal rifle and looked up to Alzack, who gave her a thumbs-up sign with a blush. Elfman walked over, still in his majestic form as the king of beasts, to take Alzack and Bisca down to the ground. But something unexpected happened.

The previously lifeless snake body started to exhibit a strange aura. The spider body started to melt and so did the snake part. Natsu quickly escaped by latching onto Elfman, who got out of the way. Mirajane watched the whole scene unfold from above. There was no way this thing was regenerating itself. Not on her watch, no. She would obliterate the thing until there was not even a single piece of it left.

Mira created twelve small dark orbs and spread them into a perfect circle. Each orb turned into a Roman numeral, from one to twelve. It was like a clock, and she was the center of it. A dark aura engulfed Mira and the whole clock vanished into a massive black orb. One of Mira's ultimate attacks was about to hit the face of the earth. It took a lot of time to prepare and it was effectively useless in a one-on-one fight, but her friends were with her.

But the demon was faster. The snake had regenerated. The spider body was mostly gone, but the legs had reformed and attached itself to the snake body. It was a horrifying chimera of a gargantuan snake with spider legs.

Natsu was the first to attack. "Fire Dragon Breath!" He aimed right at the legs, but the effect was diminishing.

Elfman was attacked head on by the beast, and he was actually being pushed back. "Alzack! Bisca! Do something about this thing!"

Elfman had his problems holding back the monster when it approached him with a wide-open mouth. He managed to stop the attack by grabbing both the thing's lower and upper jaws, but if he let go, it would undoubtedly bite him.

"Sis, aren't you ready yet?" Elfman yelled with his monstrous voice.

Alzack needed time to prepare his Bullet Storm, and so did Bisca for her Legend Destroyer. Alzack did have an idea, although it was risky. It counted on Bisca's magical energy being large enough.

Jumping down, he safely landed next to Bisca, who was watching the fight with eyes wide open. The forest fire was spreading more quickly now, what with Natsu going wild. The snake was obviously in pain from walking and slithering through the fire, but Natsu was too small to directly damage the demon.

"Bisca, let's combine your Legend Destroyer with my Bullet Storm. One of us will feed the device, the other will aim," Alzack suggested, ignoring his usual nervousness when around Bisca.

The female sniper just nodded and held her rifle against Alzack's guns. The devices merged and changed form. Instead of four barrels, there was now one large one with many sub-barrels—a device for rapid-firing destructive shells.

"Let me aim and deal with the recoil, Bisca. It's a man's job to take the dirty part."

Bisca loaded up the barrels with magic energy, which was a lot more tiring than it should have been. She figured it was due to the collaboration magic, which she was absolutely not used to. There was enormous capacity, and it probably wouldn't work if she only loaded it halfway. Alzack pitched in on his own, which made her job easier.

Meanwhile, Elfman was being pushed back again, but managed to regain his ground slowly. Natsu had set the entire area on fire and was now climbing Elfman. Thank God he was a person and not transportation. It took Natsu barely twenty seconds to climb the large Elfman.

"Don't mind if I borrow your head for a sec!" Natsu shouted, standing up on Elfman's head. He could see right down the demon's throat. And what he saw _wasn't_ funny—a large bubble of green liquid was forming. The snake was preparing to use its deadly poison.

"_Fire Dragon Roar, full power!_" Natsu was quite well fed with all the fire that had spread naturally from the initial blast, so he could go all out without thinking about what came next.

A powerful firestorm emerged from his mouth, scorched Elfman's head, and hit the snake right in the throat, bursting the poison bubble and scorching its mouth. The snake wriggled in pain, but continued to try and bite Elfman.

"Elfman, _move!_" Alzack yelled, but Elfman was quite in the predicament. If he let go, the snake would overwhelm him unless he got away _very_ quickly…

Natsu to the rescue. The dragon slayer jumped right off Elfman's head, charging straight at the demon's head. He was in punching range of the snake's nostrils. A fiery punch hit the snake in a weak spot and made the thing flinch. Elfman used the chance to grab the upper jaw of the demon and smash the head into the ground.

"_Ferocious Hail!_" Alzack named the new attack on the fly. A barrel started rotating, first slowly, then quicker and quicker until it was impossible to discern the sub-barrels from one another. The blasts were several classes smaller than Bisca's Legend Destroyer, but still easily the size of a small fist.

And there were countless numbers of them. A never-ending stream of bullets shredded away the flesh of the beast's body. Elfman kept the head on the ground, stomping and smashing it with all of his might. That thing was way too tough! Just how powerful were these demons?

The snake's head and a portion of its body were separated from the rest when Alzack's and Bisca's attacks destroyed the body at one part, effectively cutting it in half. That should finally be the end of it. Elfman made sure to finish it off once and for all and smashed the head to pieces with one concentrated powerful blow. Natsu was literally melting the ground below the other half, turning the earth into magma.

But the demon was too tough. The parts regenerated again, reformed again. What had once been a snake and a spider was now two snakes with two heads each, one to each end. No more tail, no more spider, the two snakes were intervened in the middle of their bodies, like thread that had gone wild in the basket. They hissed and prepared to spew poison.

But there would be none of that. Elfman and Natsu could both sense the tremendous magical energy in the air. The whole ceiling of the cave had turned into a blast mass. Gargantuan Roman numerals scrambled over the underground sky, and Mirajane's voice echoed through the cave.

"_The time has come._"

The darkness formed a large ring around Mira, covering easily twice the area the snakes below her needed. The demon looked at her for a split second, then charged at her. Elfman and Natsu were already escaping. When Mira got serious, one was better far, _far_ away.

Large black clock hands emerged from the darkness above and pierced the snakes' bodies, pinning them to the ground. Each was pierced by six hands.

"_To the end of time, light rises. To the beginning of time, light rises. To my time, darkness rises! Satanic Solstice!_"

All sound and light in the area vanished like it was turned off. The black mass slowly descended down to where the demon was pinned into the ground. The snakes hissed angrily, sensing what was coming for them. The darkness was smashing them, crushing them into the ground like an impenetrable wall. And the circle hit the ground, exerting infinite pressure onto the snakes, turning their physical bodies into liquid goo.

The light slowly returned when the darkness started to dissipate. Mirajane hated using this attack since it took forever to execute, but also because it contaminated the area it hit for years to come. There were no plants, trees or anything alive left in the pitch-black ground. Any trace of the demon was completely gone. The ground itself had turned into a black mud-like substance that gave off the stench of burning flesh. To touch it was to spell one's doom.

Elfman and the others finally returned. They met in a small clearing that had actually been created by one of Elfman's footsteps.

Mira was still in her takeover. The spell she had used trapped her in that form for four hours, so magic energy was constantly consumed. Even she could only use it every now and then. But if it hit its target, it was powerful enough to destroy anything in her path. The main problem was always keeping her target from attacking her or escaping. She also couldn't hit any allies with it, which made the spell impractical to use with Erza as her backup.

"Sis, you're okay! I was worried when we all were suddenly transported!" Elfman was quite happy to see his sister.

"Hey, Mirajane. You didn't need to do that, we would've killed that thing easily!" Natsu wasn't too happy about Mira stealing the kill, but then again, he had been getting tired of fighting something that regenerated itself over and over.

Alzack and Bisca simply stood by, quietly acknowledging Mira's return. They were both a little exhausted from using the combination spell.

"Of course I'm okay. Who do you think I am? I see you're all well enough. Where is Erza? Isn't she with you?" That was actually Mira's biggest concern. She was able to meet up with everyone else, Erza was still missing.

"She's not with us. It's a miracle we were able to get back up here anyway!" Natsu still hated where they had ended up.

Alzack felt in charge to explain what had happened. "After you left, according to Natsu and Elfman, we four were transported one level below by some kind of magic spell. The cave below is about as big as this one, but it's a gigantic lake. There are countless small ships on that lake. We didn't see a way down, but eventually found a hole in the ceiling that led us up here. We came out right below the demon, so we had to attack it."

So below was a lake. Ruins, forest, lake. What kind of labyrinth was this? What was below the lake? What waited for them down there? And where was Erza?

"Sis, what's that on your cheek?" Elfman pointed at Mira's face. Bisca had a mirror on her and she handed it to Mirajane.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Erza's armor was stained with blood. So was her face and hair. She had found a few more people while trying to find an exit, but none of them knew anything or were very strong. Erza disposed of them before they met up with their teams and became a threat. Eight people had died by her hand, including the woman early on. There was no exit. The cave was seemingly shaped like a donut—a circle with a massive wall in the middle,

No exit and no entrance. How did people even _get_ here? Was it magic? Did they get transported by a magic spell? In that case, how were they supposed to get _out_? Erza was thinking hard as she sat in a small cave and rested. The blood was starting to stink and it was all dried up. She was thirsty beyond belief, for there was not even a drop of water down here.

There was only one way to get out of there. Two, if she counted dying. Patience. If there was such a thing as an area-wide teleport spell, it was likely set over the entire island and every level. All the people she had pushed for information had said the same thing—there'd been blinding white light and they were suddenly there. Some had been on other levels before. Erza learned that there was a level that was a desert and there was a lake level as well. Taking into considering her own position and the ancient forest, that made four levels out of six that she knew about.

She was a little thankful that she hadn't ended up in the desert level. The lake would've been bad in its own way, but at least she would have had water. What worried her were the demons that supposedly were housed in every level. The forest must have one, and so would the desert and the lake.

Erza couldn't even begin to think of what those things would be like. For now, she had to conserve her resources. From her days in the destroyed Fiore, she had learned not honor death. She had scored a little bit of food—dried jerky—and a bottle of strong whiskey. That was hardly something against her thirst, but it was better than absolutely nothing.

She took a large gulp. The whiskey warmed her up. The cave was not especially warm. In fact, it was getting colder over time. Erza put that to the idea that they were deep underground and that there were oceanic currents outside that influenced the inside, as far-fetched as it was.

Erza was only wearing her normal armor now. She was sure that this cave was well hidden and hard to reach. Whoever found her had to deal with her advantage of having the higher ground and the fact that they had to climb to get to the entrance, which essentially left them defenseless.

"I hope Mira is okay…" Erza tended to worry too much about Mira when they were separated, even though her partner was as strong—if not stronger—than Erza was. She was one part of Titania, the fairy queens. That title was not to be trifled with. Mira was proud of sharing that name with Erza.

It went without saying that Erza was also concerned about the other four, but she cared for Mira simply more now. She decided she'd spend some quality time alone with Mira after applying for some mission far away where nobody knew them. Or maybe this mission was the perfect camouflage to get together in public. Erza actually smiled despite the desperate situation when she thought about things like that.

But there was nothing to do. Her worst injury was a little cut on her left leg, which had already stopped bleeding. It didn't even limit her maneuverability. Just a scratch, by her standards. Erza changed to a warmer armor without moving an inch. It was getting colder quickly now. This level must be quite far down. If the demons got stronger the further they went down, this must be the lowest level. An invisible demon that didn't make a single noise was virtually impossible to beat.

Erza knew she couldn't fall asleep, but she was tired from walking endlessly in circles without knowing just how many times she had even passed the same crystal, the same rock, the same cave. What were the chances that she never got out of this place? The ceiling was much too high and probably too thick to break a hole through. It would take ages, time she didn't have without any supply of food or water.

For now, she could only wait. And Erza hated doing that. Waiting.

She thought about the future in the meantime. Lucy would join, and things would get crazy soon. Eisenwald was first. Natsu would head to Galuna Island, where they would meet Lyon and see to the destruction of Deliora. There were already problems with that in this timeline. Natsu and Lucy most likely wouldn't form a team. While that was meaningless for the mission concerning Eisenwald, it would prove to be a big problem when facing Galuna.

History didn't correct itself. Not always. Erza's current position was absolute proof of that. Now, with Lisanna alive, Natsu would likely form a team with her. It was a miracle that he still hadn't. Maybe that was the force of "Fate," as Syrnafir had called it, in the working. In any case, Erza had to see to it that Natsu took on the mission to Galuna Island. If everything else failed, _she_ would take the mission and take Natsu, Gray, and Lucy with her. It was bad to forcefully change history, but even worse to leave it to its own devices.

History was a fierce enemy, Erza knew that much by now. Change too little, and events would unfold the same way they had before, resulting in Zeref's Nightmare. Change too much, and Fate itself would change, causing Syrnafir to delete the entire timeline. They had to find the thin path in-between to succeed in subtly changing history.

What happened next was a good memory to Erza. Phantom. Despite how well she knew Juvia and Gajeel, they would meet as enemies, out to kill each other. Erza didn't know how exactly all the fights went, but it would prove a problem that Lisanna hadn't died, that much was clear. They had altered a major part of Fairy Tail's history, and they had to fix the history that followed to make up for it. But Erza didn't regret it one bit. She never would.

After all, it made Mira happy. It spared the guild much grief. To put up with a bit of changed history was nothing compared to that. But even if they managed to restore history to that point, beyond that was something that Erza was not sure she could fix—Gerard. The Tower of Heaven. She would never be able to pretend to not know what Gerard was planning. How he would end up. And how Simon died.

Just thinking about it made her long for Mira's support. While the guild had been there for her the first time, she never had someone she could really open her heart to. Now she did, and she would need her lover more than ever when she had to face Gerard.

Erza was tired of fearing what the future might hold. In a way, being granted a new chance was an absolute miracle and blessing. In another way, it was just another door to nightmares filled with fear. Erza kept her worries in check by reminding herself of how much they had fiddled with history and how Syrnafir hadn't bothered to even warn them. Fate must be much harder to change than simply changing one or two events. Fate must be something significant, something big.

Finally, she was released from solitude with her thoughts. A blindingly white light wrapped itself around her, and Erza felt like she was flying. She couldn't see anything. She was thrown through air and smashed against water into which she immediately sank like a stone. Her eyes needed a few seconds to adjust.

She was underwater. She was in the lake level. And she was looking straight at the resident demon.

### End of Epoch III ###


	4. Dist's Purgatory II

Epoch V is already written and being edited. Updates of VH2, LSS and HMS are coming up soon.

**Scarlet Lily**

Epoch IV

_Dist's Purgatory II_

Erza now faced unprecedented danger. From the massive body of water, it was clear she was in the level that contained a lake.

The spell had dropped her right above the resident demon. It was a bizarre creature, a mixture of the legendary three-headed Cerberus and a piranha. Its sheer size alone was overwhelming. Erza figured the thing to be at least twenty meters in size, if not larger.

Erza quickly switched to her Sea King armor and pushed toward the water's surface, but the demon had already spotted her and was coming. Even underwater, she could hear its roar—a grotesque, deafening howl as if it came from the slit throat of a dog. There was no way she could go up against it alone.

Erza noticed barely in time that the demon was moving too quickly for her to reach the surface and escape. She moved to the left, and the monster rushed right past her.

She summoned a lance and rammed it into the demon's back, only to be pulled upwards along with it. She and the demon rushed past dark shapes, and Erza realized that there were others in the water. Most of them were heading upwards to escape from the demon.

Erza was running out of air and not prepared for an underwater fight. This was Mira's area of expertise, not hers. The demon had not even noticed his back had been pierced. Erza could see several layers of ridiculously tough scales covering its body. Her spear had hit a spot where the skin was a little softer, but there were at least two more layers beneath the uppermost one.

The demon seemed to simply abandon Erza as prey and went after the next player in this murderous game. The second the demon had selected someone else to be his lunch, she let go of her spear and quickly swam towards the surface. A cloud of red further down made her look back for a second. The demon had just eaten someone. Two of his three heads were looking around for more prey while the third head was still chewing.

Erza reached the surface. There were gigantic mangroves in this lake, their roots looking like rock formations underwater. After quickly climbing one of the bigger roots to her right, Erza saw the massive demon going after more people. It seemed like quite a few players had been dropped in this level.

She deemed herself safe after climbing up farther and switched from Sea King armor to her flight armor, which had become her standard for increased mobility. The knight took a few minutes to asset the situation.

The level was shaped like a cone—very wide at the surface, but getting smaller and smaller the further underwater one went. Erza couldn't tell how deep it went, as the light was too dim and the water too dark. The mangroves reached to the ceiling with ease. The whole top part of the level was covered in one gigantic maze of treetops.

The treetops were definitely the safest places to be until she could figure out her next course of action. The previous level had no exit, so chances were slim that this one would have one. And the mangroves had very few branches; they were too far apart and too high up for Erza to use as ladders.

Something else quickly caught her attention. Someone was approaching her at high speed, jumping from root to root, clearly aiming to meet up with her. Erza switched to Purgatory armor and waited. In a one-on-one battle she was confident she could beat most enemies in this war.

The rain obscured her sight a little so it was difficult to tell who it was until the player came closer. When it cleared, Erza could barely believe who was coming at her—the woman she had fought earlier on the ship, the sorceress who used all the rings and necklaces.

It would be difficult to fight her here. Erza would feel a lot more comfortable with fighting if Mira was there to back her up. The last fight was two versus one and they weren't able to kill her. In fact, the woman looked completely fine to Erza.

But she didn't attack. The woman stopped about ten meters away, three jumps away from Erza. She stood quietly on a root. "Fancy meeting you here."

Erza didn't know what the enemy wanted, but she hadn't spoken to anyone in hours and she was tired of solitude. Yet she was on her guard, ready to attack or defend the second the woman made a move. "What do you want?" she said.

"I can see you're not someone I'm going to sway with pretty words. I'll cut to the chase. Allies. I want allies. Look around you. Most of the teams participating have lost people. Some have only one remaining, if at all." The sorceress grinned in a weird, knowing way. "How about it? Join us. You won't regret it."

She held out her hand, waiting for Erza's reply.

The knight doubted the intentions of the device user. The woman was definitely the kind who abandoned her allies the second they became a liability. And what did Erza have to gain by making a new team in this situation? The rules did not mention that a team had to stay as it entered, sure, but…

"I am Lair. I'm sure you have a decent idea of how strong I am. If you don't want to join me, I propose a temporary truce. There are a lot of dangerous people running around here that make you and me look silly."

Erza wasn't sure whether it was a trap or not, but a simple truce couldn't hurt. She didn't want to fight the sorceress who called herself Lair. Not here. Not without Mira. Erza was sure she wouldn't lose, but it'd be extremely difficult to win too. For now, the truce seemed to be—

Lair acted quickly. Activating one of her rings, she shot a beam of ice magic right at Erza.

But her aim was terribly off. The beam shot right past the knight and created a wall behind her. A second later, Erza felt the force of a powerful impact on the ice shake the root she stood on.

The demon had sneaked up on the women and jumped right out of the water. Erza would've been grabbed off her root if Lair hadn't acted.

"Let's get out of here. That thing is nearly impervious to any magic I've attacked it with. Ice, fire, lightning, poison, earth, water, light, darkness…all worthless. Barely scratched it." Lair turned around, showing her back to Erza. She stood completely defenseless. "If you don't want to be eaten, follow me."

Erza didn't trust her, but she had little choice. The only other way was back into the water and right into the demon's playground.

Erza followed Lair, but she kept a safe distance behind. She didn't trust the woman, but she knew that in dire situations, even enemies could become powerful assets.

She considered her armor. Adamantine armor was too risky in case she fell into the water. It limited her mobility too much, so Erza stayed in Purgatory mode, which provided both excellent offense and decent defense. Lair would have a hard time dealing a fatal blow.

"I accept your truce proposal," she finally said.

"Smart girl." Lair simply smiled and continued to head further to the level's center, where a dozen mangroves were growing close to each other. Together they formed something like a pillar of support for the cave. Erza followed her as they jumped from root to root.

"How much information on this labyrinth do you have?" Lair asked a second later.

"Not much. How about you?" Erza switched from her large black sword to a masterfully forged spear with large black marks in the form of a spearhead on the blade. This weapon would prove much more useful now that the mangroves were closer to each other. She could use it as a temporary foothold.

"Barely anything," Lair answered. "This level is right below the forest, I hear. There's supposed to be a gate at the bottom of this lake to the level below, but you can hardly go take a look with that demon on the hunt. There's also a desert level, but I don't know where it is."

Lair shared her bit of information, clearly knowing that Erza would only share her knowledge if Lair did so first. The knight was an extremely cautious woman.

"There is also a level where there is nothing but rocks. There is no exit and no entrance. The demon there is completely invisible. I was there before." Erza judged that such information wasn't terribly useful, but it made it look like she was willing to cooperate. For now.

Lair spotted something and stopped abruptly. "Fuck."

Erza came to a halt one root behind her. There was someone right ahead of them, and from the look of it, Lair wasn't too happy to see whomever it was. Erza took a closer look, jumping right next to Lair. Before them was someone Erza would have compared to Mirajane on every other occasion.

The person was a woman about as tall as Erza herself, but not quite human. Erza couldn't tell if it was magic or her real body, but the woman had wings on her back. Large black wings. _Six_ of them. Her hair reached to her ankles and was split in a wild mix of white and black with purple strands. Her eyes glowed red, like fireflies in the dark. In each hand was she held a monstrous scythe, a reaper's tool. On her left cheek was a small mark in the form of a bull's head. As far as clothes went, she wore just a black rag that clung to her body. From the looks of it, the woman was close to starving.

And the attack started right away. "_Law breath of the living…_" The woman's voice was like a faint whisper in their ears, barely audible. A myriad of small orbs appeared all around Lair and Erza, each one of them turning into a spike.

"Defend!" Lair shouted and Erza switched to her Adamantine armor in a heartbeat, putting up a defense shield, while Lair defended herself with a magic shield based on light magic.

The magic orbs hit them without mercy. Thousands, tens of thousands in seconds hit them, more and more appearing. No shield in the world could protect them against such an omni-directional attack for long.

Erza brutally kicked Lair out of the way when the mysterious woman attacked them head on with her scythes, slicing away at them. Erza parried with a large broadsword called "Defender," part of her Adamantine armor, but the orbs hit her in the back at her weakest point. Erza needed all her power to not get pushed back by the sorceress.

Lair came to her rescue, putting up a shield. Erza had already been stabbed by many orbs, each of them stuck in her back. Lair used one hand to block oncoming orbs and her other to activate regeneration magic to heal Erza, who held the woman back.

"_Torment!_" The woman jumped back and slammed her scythes right below her, into the branch they all stood on.

Erza barely noticed in time. She grabbed Lair and jumped into the air, switching to her flight armor for the mobility. If Erza had moved a second later, they would have been stabbed by dozens of huge black spikes that suddenly emerged from the branch. The whole mangrove was turning into one large spike trap.

Lair directed her hands at the woman and activated four magic rings at once, sending a multi-elemental attack at the darkness user. The impact almost destroyed the thick root and caused a massive dust cloud from the explosion.

There were two branches nearby, and Erza aimed straight for them. She threw Lair at upper branch, then turned in midair and changed to her Heaven's Wheel armor and summoned five dozen weapons from her armory. If magic didn't work, brute force had to.

She landed on the lower branch and threw the weapons at the dust cloud, one by one. Erza didn't stop until even the remainder of the root that Lair had damaged was shredded to pieces. But it was not enough. The scythe user appeared right behind Erza in midair and lunged at her with full force.

But she underestimated Erza. With one quick maneuver, Erza stabbed the woman right through the chest with a sword. The impact threw the In both hands appeared new swords, which Erza rammed in next to the first sword. One sword after another, with breathtaking brutality and cruelty.

Lair saw the whole spectacle from the upper branch. Erza showed absolutely no mercy, only stopping when over thirty swords were stabbed into the enemy's body. Blood ran from her hands, and the sheer impact cracked the branch the two were standing upon right off the trunk of the mangrove. Erza and the woman plummeted down towards the water.

A simple rescue like that was easy for Lair. She activated a necklace and turned it into a magic rope that she threw. It reached Erza and wrapped itself around her arm, stopping her fall centimeters over the water, while the enemy crashed right into it and sank. Lair pulled Erza up right before the demon found the bloody mess and attacked.

Erza looked down. She was disturbed by what kind of enemy had just attacked them.

"That's Irf, the reaper," Lair said. She turned and began climbing further up the mangrove without taking a break, Erza right behind her. "Nobody knows what kind of black magic she uses, but apparently she can't be killed and is always coming back for the kill. She's a famous assassin from the southern countries."

And there she was. Irf shot out of the water and ascended rapidly, flying straight up. Those wings weren't just for decoration after all, and she bore no sign of any wound from Erza's attack or any damage from Lair's. What kind of monster were they facing? Never mind the fact that Erza and Lair were actually enemies, they would both die in seconds if they faced that thing alone!

"_Heir to darkness!_" Irf hissed. Massive black holes in the air appeared out of nowhere all around them. Irf headed right into one and appeared out of another directly above the two escaping women not even a split second later.

She attacked Erza again, who changed to her Purgatory armor and switched to dual-wielding swords. She blocked the dual-wielding scythe monster, whose onslaught of hits forced the veteran fighter Erza back with ease. Irf had the advantage of flying, while Erza was limited to branches for footing.

But Lair had her own tricks. Erza knew more or less what most of those rings did by now, but she didn't know about the bracelet Lair was wearing. Lair aimed carefully at Erza. "_Sylph's blessing!_"

Erza could literally feel the breeze on her face as she moved with much more ease now. Her speed had doubled, if not tripled and she was now forcing the reaper back, attacking so quickly that she almost left afterimages of her strikes and blows. But Erza knew that this wasn't going to last long. This kind of spell was for escape, not for battle.

Erza relentlessly attacked Irf until she had forced the assassin against the massive trunk of the mangrove. She stabbed her enemy with a lightning-fast attack that left Irf's arms impaled by swords and nailed to the trunk. Erza then switched back to her large black sword, her main weapon in Purgatory mode, and slashed open Irf's chest. Another slash and her legs were gone. The third slash beheaded the monstrous thing and left the body hanging, lifeless.

"Let's go. I'm not sure even that is gonna kill her." Lair pointed at the treetops above them and climbed up quickly.

Erza followed, switching back to flight armor. She was very worried now. If there were any more enemies like that…she needed to meet up with Mira and the others quickly.

"How did you know that attack earlier wouldn't kill her?" Erza found it weird that Lair knew this much about an enemy that strong.

"I met her earlier, on another level. We ganged up against her, five versus one. We turned her entire body to ashes. As you can see, even that wasn't enough." Lair didn't believe in immortality, but there was some crazy magic at work with Irf. The legends of her skills were old. That woman must be well over a hundred years old.

"I've never heard of magic like that. Is that even possible?" Erza found the idea of an immortal enemy quite frightening. How could one beat an enemy who always came back? And who in their right mind would accept someone who was completely insane and murderous into their team?

They finally reached the treetops. They were an extremely convoluted thicket, really, to an extent where parts seemed like walls. They sought shelter in the upper part, hiding in a small natural cave of branches and vines. They both needed to catch their breath.

"As long as that thing is on the same level as us, I say we stick together. I seriously don't want to run into her again."

Erza knew Lair was powerful on her own, but what use was that if the enemy simply wouldn't die and come back an infinite number of times?

"Agreed." Erza held out her hand to Lair, who took it. They knew that this was just a temporary alliance. The next time they met, they would try to kill each other. For now, they needed to learn as much as possible from and about the other—in order to kill her when the time was right.

### Scarlet Lily ###

The heat was driving all of them crazy. It was at least forty degrees, and yet they were in a cave. With no walls. And sand as far as the eye could reach. The cave was at least as large as the forest and the lake. It didn't seem as if the level was right below the lake, so it must be even further down.

Mirajane was leading the other four around in the desert. The ceiling seemed to be made of some weird material. It was colored like clay, but shone and seemingly gave off heat.

Mirajane had figured out by now that the tokens the rules talked about were really just small marks that appeared on one's face. She had finished off the demon in the forest, and she now bore its mark on her cheek—the head of a snake. For now, she hid the mark beneath a smear of blood. She didn't need people coming after her to take the token for themselves.

They still couldn't find Erza or an exit.

It was still too dangerous to simply blast a hole in the ceiling. Going through the ground would've been one option, but from what they could tell, there were ten thousand tons of sand in the way. For now, their small group was struggling to keep moving and find a place that could provide some shade.

At least they had not run into a demon or any enemies up until now. Half an hour had passed since they had been teleported. Mira had created a barrier of dark magic right around them, forcing them all together, in an attempt to keep them from splitting up if they were teleported again.

This desert level made at least four levels they knew about. The dark ruins above the forest, the lake beneath the forest, and the desert, somewhere further down. It was unlikely for a desert to be right below a lake, so there must be one more level between the desert and the lake. At least one.

"Sis, there's nothing here but sand. We should try to get out of here," Elfman said.

Mira knew he was tired of wandering around in scorching heat. Natsu was the least affected, for obvious reasons. Bisca and Alzack were worse off than Mira and Elfman, since both stayed in their takeovers in case a demon or enemies attacked. It wasted a lot of their magic power, but they could be attacked at any time.

"I guess there's no other way. But how do we get to the ground? There's gotta be tons of sand between us and the ground, and there's nowhere we could take the sand, even if we dug our way down." Mira was sure that no matter what, trying to blast a hole through all that sand was impossible. Even for her.

"Can't we just blow a hole in the ground so the sand falls to the level below?" Natsu was missing the point.

"That's the problem, Natsu. How are we gonna do that?" Mira wasn't quite sure if it was even possible to crush the ground. After all, even her Satanic Solstice had not broken the ground in the forest.

"Can't we just drop something heavy on the ground and break it? There's gotta be a level below this." Natsu looked around as if there was coincidentally a heavy object they could drop. But there was only sand, sand, and more sand.

"The sand would cushion the impact. The ground itself would barely feel a thing." Mirajane had thought about this long and hard, and there was no real way to simply dig down and keep the sand from flowing back.

"Am I hallucinating, or are there clouds appearing on the ceiling?" Alzack pointed at the ceiling of the cave, where masses of dark clouds were appearing out of nowhere.

"As if the teleport shuffle wasn't enough. Now they're sending the outside weather in here? Well, I suppose water isn't going to hurt." Mira couldn't have known how wrong she was at that time.

The ground suddenly shook with a large tremor. Thunder rolled above them, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground barely fifty meters away from the small group. Seconds later came a downpour so crazy that they all thought they were back outside in the Cyclone Forest.

But this was even worse. Visibility dropped to less than ten meters, and the ground turned into mud so quickly that they sank in to their ankles moments after the rain started. Elfman immediately saw the problem and grew to much larger proportions. He grabbed Alzack, Bisca, and Natsu to ride on his shoulders and hands. With his increased size and mass, his feet sank into the mud. Mira was fine, since she could fly, but there was another problem.

Lightning was striking everywhere. There were literal mud explosions when lightning hit the ground. A bolt came down every five to ten seconds, randomly striking somewhere nearby. Mira had to put up a shield right in front of Elfman to deflect a bolt, and she did it just barely in time and purely by instinct.

Now Mira was noticing something. The mud and the sand below couldn't absorb all the water. Small rivers formed below Elfman's clawed feet, and those quickly merged, forming larger ones. Not even five minutes after the rain started, the water had already risen to his ankles. The water was quickly becoming their latest problem.

"Elfman, hurry. We need to get to higher ground."

That was, they needed to go in the direction the water _wasn't_ going. From the look of it, they must be close to what Mira thought the lowest point of the level, because the water was flowing in one direction. And it was now rising at an alarming rate. Even Elfman began to have problems walking against the steadily growing flood. His footing was mud and more mud.

Mira had problems of her own. Flying was an okay choice in a normal thunderstorm, but apparently hat didn't apply to magical storms. Lighting struck her, and she plunged right into the now-raging stream below.

Elfman could no longer resist the water and was being pushed back. Now he could finally see where all the water was going. There was a gigantic maelstrom right before them, like a funnel in the ground. The water was clearly going somewhere.

Elfman too, was too easy a target for the lightning bolts. The second he got hit, all four of them were almost electrocuted, passing out in the process. They fell into the raging stream that was pulling them right into the maelstrom.

Under the dark clouds of the Cyclone Forest, five of the six from Fairy Tail were lost to the raging waters.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Erza calmly studied the behavior of her enemy. Right in front of her sat Lair, a powerful sorceress who used magic similar to her own. From what Erza could tell, Lair was older than she was—at least around thirty. And she wore a lot of hidden necklaces, bracelets and other things that Erza only saw briefly for seconds. The woman was full of hidden tricks.

They were eating some preserved meat that Lair had stored in a small four-dimensional pocket. It tasted like cardboard, was hard to chew, and had probably close to zero nutrition, but it filled their stomachs. For what it was worth, it was as good as a first-class meal. Erza was no longer picky about food. Not after surviving on leftovers and stolen food for a long time.

"I see you belong to a guild. I do not recognize that emblem. Where are you from?" Lair knew a fairly extensive amount of guilds, and often, just by knowing to which guild someone belonged was a big advantage.

"Fiore, a country southeast from here. And you? Do you belong to a guild?" Erza was curious about where Lair came from. People who used so many types of magic were extremely rare. And Lair didn't seem to have a guild emblem.

"Fiore, huh? That's pretty close to Elunos. I came a much longer way. I'm from Sin. I traveled through the Pergrande Kingdom to the east and boarded a ship on the western coast, a few hundred miles east of Fiore."

Lair didn't say whether she belonged to a guild or not. Erza felt that there was something important Lair was hiding.

"I've heard of Sin before. A country of warmongers and mercenaries." Erza had heard some rumors that Sin had been devastated by Zeref in the future and that they had been turned into his forces.

"Sin is a wasteland. We're surrounded by Desierto, Bellium, Enca and Pengrande. We live by selling ourselves as mercenaries. Don't get me wrong, I chose to be one. I love the thrill of the hunt and to fight. But not monsters like that down there." Lair pointed at an extremely small hole next to their feet that allowed them to see all the way down to the water below. Irf was still hunting them, but she seemed reluctant to enter the treetops.

"Are there any magic guilds in Sin?" Erza couldn't contain her curiosity. Sin was a country far to the southeast of Fiore and Erza had never been there or met anyone who actually had traveled there and back.

"No. People buy and sell information. Others are hired for their abilities. There aren't many who use magic. One in a thousand, maybe. Most of Sin lives by being employed by Pengrande." Lair explained briefly the situation in her homeland. There was nothing in this information that Erza could use against her, so Lair seemed to have deemed it safe.

Erza knew of the trend that the further east one went, the smaller the numbers of magicians got. The kingdom of Pengrande was an exception, for they were rumored to have drugs to turn normal people into magicians. But beyond the kingdom was mostly wasteland, and much further to the east there were lands that Erza did not know even by name.

The conversation died when Erza did not answer or pose another question. They had quietly spent a few minutes in silence when something crackled below them. Erza was quicker than Lair and took a look, but there was something blocking her view. A large wall of darkness.

A familiar darkness. One that crackled, rained and sent lightning bolts down to the water. How in the world had the storm clouds of the Cyclone Forest gotten inside the maze?

This was all but good. As far as Erza could tell, the clouds had spread over the entire level. The treetops blocked their ascent, so they hung a bit below the two hiding magicians. A lightning bolt hit the trunk of a nearby mangrove with full power, but the enormous tree barely shook. Those things seemed to be nigh indestructible.

"This is bad. Those aren't normal clouds. Just listen to the sound of the rain." Lair pushed Erza aside and took a look for herself.

When Erza listened closely, it was easy to determine that these clouds were from the outside, all right. There was an enormous amount of magic involved in this. The rain was like a torrential downpour.

"Out!" Lair yelled all of a sudden and blasted a hole through the east side of the thicket, escaping into the treetops.

Erza was right behind her. When she looked back, she saw that the place they had just left was surrounded by black hands and claws, smashing their hideout to bits and pieces.

"_Veil of darkness!_" Irf was back, and she was apparently not very pleased that her prey had stayed hidden for so long.

The winged magician came at them, attacking Erza with her scythes again. The very moment sword and scythe clashed, a dark mist emerged from Irf, wrapping the treetops in total darkness. Erza couldn't hear or see anything. Even the thunder of the rainclouds below was suppressed and rendered silent.

A sudden, mind-blinding pain ran through her left leg and she felt blood run down her tights. Erza gritted her teeth and changed to her Adamantine armor, escaping the veil by heading downwards to the branches that hung right inside the storm clouds. Lightning struck every split second right beside her, but her armor protected her from the worst of it. It had been her mistake to leave her Thunder Emperor armor behind. And Irf was right behind her, grinning like the devil himself.

"_Six demons!_" Irf vanished for a second, then reappeared right before Erza, slashing away at her but failing to get past her armor.

Irf continued her attack relentlessly. But the real problem was just beginning. Behind Erza, right and left of her, above her and below her…multiple copies of Irf surrounded her, and all six of them attacked her. Erza was going to take damage regardless of whether they could get past her armor. Her defense was not infinite. And the _laughter_. The laughter of an insane child was everywhere.

The six Irfs all stepped back, aimed at Erza, and charged some kind of magic. But Erza wasn't that weak. A quick change and she was in her Heaven's Wheel armor. Irf seemed mildly amused when a multitude of swords stabbed each and every single one of the six. Erza only noticed then that each Irf had only one wing at the time.

The enemy dropped below the clouds, followed by Erza, who rapidly descended in a free fall. And something grabbed her. When she looked above, Erza saw that Lair was holding her in midair. She had wings of her own—on her back, wrists, and ankles. The woman really had magic for every situation.

They passed through the lightning-charged cloud, protected by Lair's magic. The world below them was a labyrinth of lightning bolts impacting everywhere.

"I've never seen anyone take out the six demons like that. But she is gonna be back." Lair pulled Erza with her to a nearby branch.

They looked down and saw that the water level had risen considerably already. If the clouds continued to rain down, it was only a matter of time until the lake hit the treetops and submerge the whole level. But Erza noticed something else. To the far west of the level was a waterfall that came down from a hole in the ceiling. If the water found its way down, there was a way up.

And then suddenly there was a different problem. A more pressing problem. Right below them was a monstrous magic circle, at least twenty meters in diameter, that rested only a few meters over the water's surface. It was a pitch-black magic circle that fizzled with energy. They could not hear the activation phrase, but they could feel the trees shake with its power.

An uncountable number of black arms and hands suddenly extended from the circle, reaching for them. Erza summoned two dozen swords to cut short the initial attack. When the weapons reached the magically created arms they hacked, slashed and pierced away, but to no avail. Erza switched to her flight armor. Escape seemed the only option now.

As Erza jumped from branch to branch, Lair flew right above her, ready to give Erza a hand. They were enemies, to be sure, but before an invincible foe like this, it didn't matter. They would both die if they faced Irf on their own, and they each knew it.

Lightning struck the hands following them like a flock of angry bees. Each bolt destroyed a hand, and each destroyed hand was replaced by five new ones. And Irf was right between them, the same diabolical grin as always on her face. How many times would they have to kill that thing before she stayed dead?

Erza and Lair had traveled far enough so that the waterfall was right above them now, but the current was extremely powerful. There was no way they could move up through it. They had maneuvered themselves into a trap.

Erza stood on a branch barely five meters above the water's surface, and Lair flew above her. They looked back to see Irf approaching them rapidly, ready to have her demonic hands tear them apart like paper.

Lair began to activate a lot of jewels at once and Erza changed into her Purgatory armor, ready to fight for her life. There always seemed to be a short break between cutting down Irf and her coming back. They had to use that to escape.

But suddenly, something hit Irf right before she could make it that far. Something large crashed into Irf and took off her head in one quick hit. Blood tainted the rain as the hands vanished and the body of the reaper woman dropped down into the water. Erza did not recognize the man who had attacked Irf, but Lair did.

"Veronius! About time you showed up." Lair flew over to the man who resembled a reptile more than anything else. "Let me introduce you. This is one of my new team members. Veronius, the dragon."

Lair's expression had turned malicious. Erza knew Lair could use this chance to get rid of Erza once and for all, even with Irf still right below them.

Erza didn't wait for any introductions. She jumped right past the two confused people and escaped to the east.

Lair found out why seconds later. The resident demon had tracked them down and jumped out of the water to get a meal. Lair was about to shoot the beast with everything she had when something burst out of its back.

It was Irf, of course. Purple blood dripped from her body as she emerged from the guts of the demon, wielding her scythes proudly. "_You won't escape._"

She bore no trace of injury, even though her head had just been taken off and she had gotten eaten by a large demon. Large black circles began to form all over the place—Irf was finally getting serious, as this time there were hundreds of them. And each one had a single large black claw that emerged from it, aiming to shred anything in its path to pieces.

Lair's head was almost taken off when something flew past her with tremendous speed. Irf saw the attack coming but wasn't able to evade in time. A large spear hit her straight in the chest, the impact strong enough to smash her against the nearby wall, nailing her to the rocks.

Erza had launched another surprise attack against the woman. Blood flowed rapidly from the large wound in Irf's chest, but the sorceress didn't seem bothered at all. On the contrary, she lifted her arm, whispered one word, and a myriad of black orbs appeared around Erza. This time, Lair wasn't there to protect her. Erza managed in time to switch to her Adamantine armor and put up a shield, knowing the particulars of this attack. When the countless orbs impacted on her shield, each bit withered away part of her magical power.

Irf was now focused on Erza, and Lair didn't let the chance pass. Five circles, the lines between the circles forming a perfect pentagram, appeared behind Irf. A massive explosion followed, large enough to shake the whole cave.

The man called Veronius pulled Lair away as massive rocks fell down from the ceiling and the waterfall increased in size considerably. There must be tremendous quantities of water on the level above.

Erza felt the attack let up as the explosion destroyed Irf's body yet again and jumped away, turning to the east. But it was too late. The ceiling succumbed to the masses of water. Lair's explosion was causing the ceiling to cave in.

Erza saw the rocks falling but wasn't able to evade in time. She got hit, and the rocks took her downwards, into the water, deeper and deeper.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Mirajane coughed and coughed, barely able to breathe. She couldn't see anything, but at least there wasn't any more rain pouring down on her. She was lying in a giant puddle of mud and water. There was a hole in the ceiling from where mud and water was constantly pouring down.

When she looked around in the dark, Mirajane found Bisca nearby, unconscious. Mira managed to slosh over, knee-deep in mud, but it was getting shallower as she moved away from the hole.

"Bisca, wake up. Wake up!" Mira checked Bisca's chest and found that she wasn't breathing. Mira panicked a little and immediately started CPR on her fellow guild member. She pushed Bisca's chest and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but Bisca didn't respond. Mira feared for the worst.

Suddenly Bisca started to cough up water. Mira pushed her onto her side, supporting Bisca as she vomited muddy water. Her shoulders shook violently with each deep cough, but she was quite alive.

Mirajane pulled Bisca out of the mud and laid her down on an elevated rock formation that rose above the water. She headed back to the puddle to look for Alzack, Natsu, and Elfman, but there were no traces of them.

Mira was in mud almost to her waist when she finally spotted a sign. In the distance—it was hard to tell how far exactly—was a signal light. It looked like Natsu's fire breath, which meant that he was safe. Elfman and Alzack must be with him then. Mira found herself quite relieved.

She then looked around a little more. She remembered the desert level and the maelstrom…so they must be the level below. That meant she knew of at least five levels now.

The ancient ruins, the forest, the lake…all of them connected. The desert and this cave were connected as well, but it was a blocked connection unless one went down the maelstrom. For now, she had to meet up with the others.

She went back to where she left Bisca. She found the sniper bent over, trying to catch her breath.

"Can you walk?" Mira was worried about her, but the woman simply nodded her head and got up, albeit a bit unstable on her legs.

Mira found it very difficult to actually fly, with or without carrying Bisca. There was some kind of invisible pressure that seemed to prevent her from flying to the ceiling, so they kept to the ground for the majority of the way, Mira occasionally helping Bisca over deep fissures in the ground. There were quite a few of those, and the water and mud ran off the edges into the crevasses below.

Mira guessed that this was the lowest level of the maze. So…the treasure was located somewhere on this level. But first they had to meet up with Natsu and the others.

Elfman, Alzack, and Natsu were all every bit as dirty and mud-stained as Mira and Bisca were. Alzack in particular was relieved to find Bisca safe, although she still looked a little sick.

"Sis, what in the world happened back there? Why were there storm clouds inside the cave?" Elfman asked.

He was staying in his own body for now, in order to conserve his magical power. He had explained that he had protected Natsu and Alzack, but lost sight of Bisca when they fell into the maelstrom. He himself had passed out for a few minutes after he'd gotten Natsu and Alzack to safety.

They were all cold, wet, and dirty. But there was nothing to burn. It was hard to admit, but Mira missed the burning heat from the desert above a little. The cave was literally empty. Apart from very few crystals that gave off a bit of light, there was nothing here. No vegetation, no animals, not even enemies. It was incredibly difficult to tell how large this level was as the light was so dim. That, however, was not Mira's biggest worry.

The guardian of the treasure had to be around, and Mira wasn't comfortable tackling something like that without Erza. It worried Mira a lot that they still hadn't found her, but she was likely on one of the levels above. If the forest and the lake had gotten the same treatment as the desert, Erza was probably facing some grave problems.

"Something smells bad. Like blood." Natsu had never smelled something so disgusting. It wasn't just blood, it was the stench of death.

"Where?" Mira asked.

Natsu had an excellent nose and Mira was all too aware of the dangers in this so-called tournament. If he got wind of blood and it didn't come from their group, then something threatening had to be nearby.

"That way." Natsu simply pointed in the direction and took a few steps that way. But he stopped quickly because the stench quickly overwhelmed him. "It's getting really bad over there." Natsu pointed in the same direction and covered his mouth and nose with his hand.

"I'll take a look. Wait here and protect the others, Natsu."

Mira slowly walked in the direction Natsu had pointed and was shocked at what she gradually became able to see. It was a massive creature, shaped like an orb and with tentacles on its head. It was lying in its own blood, a disgusting liquid that stuck to her feet and the ground and gave off a tremendously bad smell. Mira covered her mouth and got closer.

It was dead. But it wasn't the fact that the monster was dead that scared Mira, but rather _how_ it had died. Its skin was harder than bone, Mira found out, and the tentacles were actually eye stalks.

She had heard of a demon like this before. It was a beholder, a very powerful spellcaster demon that had many abilities and lived for tens of thousands of years. It was an omnivore and generally very deceitful and clever.

And something had actually managed to kill it. As Mirajane circled around the dead demon, every step simply increased her fear of whoever or whatever did it. Large parts of the demon's body were ripped out, and one eye was completely crushed and in bloody pieces. The left side was torn to shreds. Mira could see most of the internal organs. Pieces of flesh were littered about on the ground. Mira knelt down and looked at one of them.

There were bite marks. Someone…_something_ had been eating the demon. And it was still warm. So whatever had done this was still around and probably looking for more food. Mira got up and looked around, but she couldn't see or hear anything.

Her eyes went wide when a rush of warm, foul air, like breath, whooshed over the back of her neck. As if a wild animal were right behind her. Mira didn't move or make a sound. The breathing was deep, inhuman, like that of a large animal. How had such a thing approached her without her noticing?

Mira concentrated and moved with lightning speed, clawing at whatever was behind her. Her demonic hand hit only air, and the sound was gone in an instant. Had she hallucinated? It was possible. With all the terror she had seen in the future, Mira thought it possible that she had hallucinated something terrifying here in the dark.

And then there it was again. This time were was a deep, inhuman growl, followed by panting. But this time, Mira couldn't tell where it was coming from. She wasn't the type to be easily scared, but this was too much for her.

"_Demonic Light!_" Mira shot piercing beams of darkness in every direction, her eyes going wild as the panting and the growling grew louder with every second until she could hear it inside her head.

"Go away…go away!" Mira was panicking now. She couldn't get the noise out of her head, and it seemed the darkness around her was now consuming the already-dim light. She couldn't see two feet in front of her. The stench of the blood and death was starting to affect her, and she felt sick to her stomach.

Mira whirled around and tried to run when she felt something grab her leg. She couldn't see and she struggled desperately to get her leg free, but whatever was holding her was insanely strong. She tried to hit it but couldn't aim properly in the darkness. The grip on her leg tightened and the panting and growling got even louder. It was going to kill her and eat her!

Mira's eyes widened in fear as something approached her. Something grabbed her shoulder and some kind of warm liquid trickled onto her arm and leg.

"Die!" Mira shouted and started firing beams of energy right in front of her. She couldn't even tell if she hit it or not.

She had not. It was coming closer and closer and she could feel the air in front of her warming up considerably.

"Die, die, _die!_" Mira was shaking with fear with something grabbed her throat. A slimy and warm hand. She could barely breathe under its powerful grip. Then, a powerful stench of decomposing flesh hit her right in the face. Mira was trembling when she heard something speak right in front of her.

"_It's futile._"

Mira clenched her fists and tried to punch whatever was there holding her, but she only hit air. Whatever it was kept repeating the same two words over and over and over. Mira thought she was about to go insane. She shouldn't have left the others behind to go and scout.

And then everything was consumed by an incredible light.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Erza came to from the pain in her right leg. It wasn't broken, but she was bleeding, and she could barely stand on it. It took her a few minutes to gather her five senses and look around. She was in a swamp littered with high rock pillars, and she was atop one of them. There was no sign of Lair and the other two. For now, Erza thought, that was a good sign.

The walls of the pillars were as smooth as glass. There was no way to simply climb down. And her injured leg would complicate any attempts to get down from there as well. Jumping down would be suicide. There were probably poisonous and deep swamps all around her, and in her condition…

"Think…" Erza tried to think of some way to get down, but it was hard to keep a clear mind with booming pain running through one's leg. For now, she ripped some cloth off her skirt and wrapped her leg so she could at least stand.

The ceiling of the cave was at least ten meters above her. The hole she had passed through from the lake level was blocked by a massive rock that had sealed the hole completely.

Down below were swamps, above was a dead end. It really was bad luck to be separated from everyone like this. Erza knew that she would at best be stuck for a couple of hours in this place, so she concentrated on not making her injury worse and regain some magic energy by concentration.

Lying on her back without any armor was usually an unforgivable blunder for her, but difficult times needed hard decisions. Erza wondered how Mirajane and the others were doing. This whole situation seemed just too weird. This was not something she could have handled if she hadn't already known what lay ahead of her in the future.

The thought had come to mind a few times in the past few hours—the thought that Elunos had showed up because she and Mirajane did not belong to this timeline. But Syrnafir was the _guardian_ of time. Who else could know of what they had done?

Zeref was still sealed in this time. The world was largely at peace. So who had drawn them here?

Erza lost herself in countless conspiracy theories, each one more illogical and ridiculous than the one before. She couldn't tell how much time passed, but she did grow accustomed to the air in the cave, at least enough to begin to notice the strange smells the swamp gave off.

The situation reminded Erza of the future. The wastelands, the fight for survival, the demonic hordes that wandered the lands, a new, unseen danger after every corner. Erza no longer remembered the faces of the people she had killed. There had been too many. But deep inside her consciousness, her guilt was always present.

Erza had thrown away her principles and her morals to survive together with Mira. The first few days had been very hard. Everyone had tried to hoard as much water and food was they could. Panic led to the spread of violence among civilians.

Erza had initially refused to take from others, despite the severe need for water and food. But after seeing how Mira suffered from starvation after a week, her resistance broke. Erza had killed a dozen people who had taken over a storage house and barricaded themselves inside.

She never told Mira where she got the water and the food, but the silver-haired woman seemed to know anyway. Erza's eyes must have showed the remorse she felt. Those people had fought in their own way for survival. And Erza put herself and Mira before their lives.

The knight felt a single tear run down her cheek as she lay there, remembering the days in the wastelands that once had been a blooming kingdom called Fiore.

It was beyond words to explain to someone how badly the land had been devastated. The charred earth, the ash in the air, the cold and poisonous rain, the land littered with corpses…the struggles between people for some of the very valuable drinkable water and food. Nobody cared about their fellow man in the slightest. Erza never wanted to set foot into a world like that again.

At first she thought it was the pain in her leg that had called her back to reality, but Erza quickly realized something else was to blame. The far side of the cave was obscured by the mist and hard to make out, but something was moving on the horizon.

Something enormous was approaching her. It was smaller than the pillar she was on, maybe half that size, but that was still over ten meters tall. Despite its slow approach, Erza could not tell what it was until it was barely a hundred meters away.

It looked to be a massive blob of some unknown material, slightly orange and yellow in color and without any facial features or limbs. It was moving right in her direction. Erza had a bad feeling about it, got up and switched to her Black Wing armor. The creature had to be the demon of the level.

Erza felt a chill running down her spine when the blob came closer and she could see what was inside—people. Over a dozen people were floating, motionless, inside the blob, probably being digested.

Erza watched as the blob approached a pillar in its way and simply went right through it, leaving part of itself on the pillar. It was heading straight for Erza, and she had no way to escape. The only way was down.

Erza didn't hesitate. She jumped off the pillar and headed straight down in free fall. There were small rock paths between the swamps, but she had to aim properly in order to land on one. Her leg was giving her hell, but that was the least of her problems for now. If the blob reached her…

Turning right in midair, Erza rammed two swords in the mirror-smooth wall of the pillar. The motion slowed her fall considerably and she came to a hold earlier than expected, at least five meters above the ground. There was no other choice. Erza jumped and tried to land on her good leg. That didn't work out quite like she wanted and she succumbed to the searing pain and fell to her knees.

It took her a moment to get up and take a look behind her. The blob was still coming. It was probably about fifty meters away now.

Erza was taken by surprise when something came crashing down right next to her. A man, at least twice the size of Elfman in height and muscle, landed right next to her. He was wearing large golden armor that had gorgeous decorations.

Erza was not sure if he was an enemy or not because he completely ignored her, so she simply left and left the unknown man behind. She had barely taken a dozen steps when she felt an immense heat surge behind her. Right above the man was a little orb, glowing with fiery power. Erza recognized the magic in an instant and ran, ignoring the biting pain and everything in front or behind her.

No demon, no living being would stand after that magic took its course. Erza could feel the miniature sun growing rapidly. The swamps around her were starting to boil and she was breaking out in sweat from the heat.

Erza took another look behind her and knew that there wasn't much time. After changing to her Adamant armor, Erza took shelter behind a massive pillar that was over ten meters wide and ten meters tall. She hoped it would block the worst of the explosion. The light was so bright now that Erza could barely keep her eyes open.

If she survived this, she swore she would never again complain about rain. She remembered clearly the brutal and merciless annihilation of the spell in the ocean. And this time, she was much, much closer than before. But at least she only had to protect herself.

Erza could feel the surge in magical energy. This spell was way beyond anything a human was capable of handling. Why was this so-called tournament full of crazy strong people?

Erza ran out of time. The sun exploded in a burst of magical fire and Erza put all her energy in a shield that covered her entire body, all the while taking shelter behind the pillar.

A storm of fire surged past so hot that it made Natsu's flames seem like the burning of matchsticks in comparison. The ground below her was melting and so was the pillar. The flames hit the area with such force that Erza's skin burned despite being protected by her shield. The sheer heat was making it almost impossible to breathe. Erza could no longer see or feel. She simply kept on pushing her magical energy into her shield.

After a seemingly endless moment, the flames finally passed. Erza had suffered severe burns all over her body. Most of the ground around her had turned to molten lava. The pillar had shrunk to a small portion of its previous size. Erza could barely move, much less care what had happened to the blob and the man.

She wanted to get out of there. But the path to retreat was now full of lava, and her leg hurt much worse than before. With clenched teeth and in enormous pain, Erza managed to walk around the pillar to look at where the sun had exploded.

Erza was speechless at the destruction before her. A massive crater, at least half a mile in diameter, was right where the sun had exploded. Even the ceiling far above had taken a lot of damage and had partially turned into molten rocks that were dripping down even now. A maelstrom of magma flowed down the crater. The explosion must have pierced the ground right to the level below.

"What immense destructive power…" Erza was afraid of an enemy like that. Someone who was capable of summoning an attack that could obliterate an entire town just like it was nothing…

Erza returned to the spot where she had taken shelter. She had no energy left to even move after that. She simply passed out standing, supported by her armor.

### Scarlet Lily ###

Mirajane was still slightly traumatized by the attack she had endured before the ceiling of the cave was somehow obliterated right above her. Magma poured down from the level above and consumed the corpse of the beholder demon as well as flooding the ground Mira was standing on. If not for her ability to fly, Mira would have died.

Natsu and the others were further away but could see the shining light from above and the magma that was coming down. None of them knew what kind of destructive force could have done it. There had been one moment of blinding light, and then the ceiling had a hole.

Still flying, Mira was suddenly surrounded by light. Had enough time passed already? It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was some kind of spell on the whole labyrinth that teleported people at random thorough the levels.

When Mira was able to open her eyes again, she was was still in a cave—but now she was flying high above a gigantic amphitheater. Hundreds of thousands of people could have fit into the audience, and Mira would have wondered at it if not for the fact that her attention was immediately directed to the center of the giant arena.

A dragon. Mirajane flinched at the sheer size of the thing. From head to tail, it must have been over fifty meters long. Even in the gargantuan arena it made everything else look small. Its scales were of a deep yellow, almost golden.

Mira took a quick look around. She was not alone. Not far from her, on the upper level of the viewer ranks, were her friends. But that was not all. Everywhere in the arena people were appearing—small groups and individuals.

Mira came to the quick conclusion that everyone still alive had been transported there, and also that she had been wrong about the previous level being the lowest. There was nothing more dangerous than a dragon—at least nothing she could imagine. This time, they really were on the lowest level. They had to be.

Mira quickly started to look for Erza, who undoubtedly was still alive. It took her a few seconds before she saw her—a red strand of hair coming from a scorched set of armor. Erza was lying unconscious on the ground, not too far from Natsu and the others, who had suddenly noticed the female knight as well.

Mira was thrown around in the air when the dragon's roar shook the arena. Mira knew fairly well how strong dragon slayers were, in particular Natsu and Gajeel, and what their magic was like. But this was a real flesh and blood dragon. It would be a really bad idea to fight one without being in top condition.

Mira knew a few spells that might work even against a dragon, but the beast would likely not give her the time to cast them. Not to mention that there were dozens of other people in the arena, all of them her enemies.

For the time being Mira returned to the others. They had picked up Erza. Elfman was transformed and stood guard together with Natsu and Alzack. Bisca seemed to be looking after Erza.

Mira landed right next to Erza and knelt down. "How is she?"

Bisca gave Mira a worried look. "She isn't in danger, but she suffered some really bad burns and her right leg is injured." Bisca pointed to a swollen, purplish part of Erza's right leg.

The dragon's roar shook the cave. A few people had carelessly attacked it, underestimating the power of a real dragon. Mira knew all too well how powerful they were. Gildartz had lost precious parts of his body in a fight with one, and neither Erza nor herself was as strong as Gildartz.

People were attacking it from the air and the ground, but nothing seemed to do any significant damage. Attacking it would be hard for Natsu as well, since the two were of different elements. And this dragon seemed like it was pretty old.

Its scales were not reflecting any of the dim light in the arena, and it had two gigantic curled horns on its head. It never moved from its spot, but didn't seem to need to, as its enemies were not able to cause any actual damage.

The dragon flapped his wings, which blew massive blasts of wind, blowing away every single of his attackers.

Natsu was the first to realize what was coming next. "Everyone down!"

They all covered on the ground just in time as a massive blast of extremely fine sand erupted from the dragon's jaw and blasted right over them. The dragon's head turned until he had hit the whole western side of the arena with his breath. Where his breath hit, even the massive stone of the tribune was pulverized.

"I'm going to talk to it." Natsu seemed quite pumped to go and possibly learn about the whereabouts of Igneel the fire dragon. His ambition only lasted a few seconds before he was grabbed by Elfman and held back.

"That thing is really dangerous!" Elfman showed Natsu the spot where the breath attack had hit. The wall looked like it had been ground smooth with sandpaper. "That is not a dragon that will answer any of your questions. Just look at it! If you're a man, you know when it's time to give up!"

"Mira." Erza had come to and was looking up at everyone. "Don't fight that thing. There are some monstrous people down here. If they start fighting the dragon, we won't be safe anywhere. We need to get away from it."

Erza got up, ignoring the pulsing pain in her leg, and took a quick glance around at the people who were still attacking the dragon, but she couldn't see any of the four she was looking for—Lair, Veronius, Irf, and that man in golden armor.

"What do you mean, monstrous people? What happened to you, Erza?" Mira was visibly worried about her lover, but so was everyone else. For Erza to order a retreat was quite rare, after all.

But they all understood just a moment later. A surge in magical power around the ceiling of the cave demanded their attention. Someone was floating up there. Numerous orbs, all of different colors, orbited around the person—Lair.

"I never thought they would pitch a living dragon against us. But this is a good opportunity. Sand is an element I am still lacking." Lair was preparing an attack.

At the same time, a black mist spreading quickly on the ground, engulfing the dragon up to its ankles. It was completely impossible to see what was happening inside, but Erza knew Irf's work when she saw it.

The dragon stomped and flailed his tail around in the dark mist at its feet, but even the attack from above was not being missed by its senses. The long neck of the dragon bent slightly and his head faced right up against the attacker from above. It would only take a second for the breath attack to reach the ceiling. But something stopped it. The breath attack hit a magic shield right in front of Lair and was unable to break through.

And then things got even worse. Natsu had been again the first to notice that another fight had broken out in the eastern side of the arena, and now he knew why. A massive black dragon had just showed up from nowhere, although he was only about half the size of the sand dragon.

Mira had a good idea of whom it was, although she had no proof. But to be able to use a takeover to that extent…such a thing was truly frightening. The sand dragon noticed the black dragon and started to use his breath attack. At that moment, he was attacked from both above and below simultaneously.

The orbs around Lair stopped rotating and assembled into a straight line in front of her. Putting her hands on the first orb, a dark glowing one, Lair exerted her full power. Magic started to flow through the orbs and a massive magical energy surged up. Between every orb, a circular magic circle appeared, connecting the orbs.

By now, the dark mist forming on the ground had completely engulfed the amphitheater's floor. Now four large, black and grotesque towers began to grow out of it. Each tower had a myriad of razor-sharp spikes in it. They were positioned in a circle right around the sand dragon, who smashed against the closest tower with its tail.

The fight between the black dragon and its attackers also came to a closing point. The tribune was littered with corpses and blood, that much was visible even from the other side of the arena. But the truly dangerous part was that the dragon itself was being restrained by gigantic burning rings of fire. The rings stopped it from using its breath attack or flapping its wings. A single man in golden armor was fighting against the black dragon.

"Mira!" There was no time to look for cover. Erza changed to her Adamantine armor, while Mira grabbed her hand and stood right next to her. They had developed this magic just recently, but it was their only chance to get out of this in one piece.

Three powerful spell chants could be heard thorough the cave at that moment.

"_Twenty Heavenly Jewels of Kardia!_" Lair unleashed her attack, and a gigantic multi-elemental beam descended from the ceiling, hitting the dragon's back. The beast's pained roar shook the foundations of the cave. Erza recognized it as a more diverse but smaller version of the Council's Etherion.

"_Suffering of ten million slaves…_" A voice echoed through the cave and the towers started to glow for a brief moment in a black light. Without any warning, they exploded, sending their spikes flying in every possible direction. The dragon's entire body was suddenly impaled with countless dark spikes. The roar of pain only grew louder.

"_Globule of Darkness!_" Erza and Mira chanted at once—a combination magic that only the two of them could use together, and it created a shield of darkness magic right around the Fairy Tail group. They stood and watched the spikes hit the shield, which were unable to penetrate it, while every inch of ground around them was pierced by the spikes. Erza did not flinch, even though her leg throbbed badly. This magic took a lot out of her, but she had Mira to cover for her.

Dust rose everywhere as the spikes destroyed every meter of the gigantic tribune. Lair's beam started to expand and finally resulted in a massive explosion that not only destroyed the remainder of the towers but shook the cave so violently that it seemed in danger of another cave in.

When the attack was finally over, no one could see anything through the dust cloud that obscured the view. But there was no doubt that survivors were scarce after such attacks. Not a single sound filled the cave apart from rocks crumbling from the walls and ceiling.

"What just happened?"

Natsu was the first to get back on his feet and look at the situation. Mira and Erza were both on their knees. The spell they had performed was still experimental magic, and it usually used too much of their energy to serve as a viable defense.

The dust cloud slowly vanished, and everyone was shocked at the sight that remained.

The dragon was dead. A gigantic wound was on its back, as if someone had carved out a large piece of flesh by force. Countless black spikes had penetrated every bit of its body as well as the arena. Only a few spots had been saved—two large spots in the west and several smaller ones in the south. There could be no more than maybe a dozen survivors.

But they had no more time to observe the situation. That familiar blindingly white light was already transporting them out of the cave

As soon as they could see again, they found themselves in a small chamber lit by four torches. The stones that formed the ground and the walls were all completely black. Mira recognized this as the level above the forest.

"Well done, well done!" The same official who had sent them in was before them. "With this, all six demons as well as the guardian of the treasure have been killed. With a total of only eight teams remaining, this round is called." He was visibly unhappy about the outcome of the game.

"Now then, by the act of killing one of the six demons, the participant Mirajane has qualified her team for the next round. Congratulations, Team Fairy Tail!" He handed Mirajane a simple silver ring adorned with a snake on top of it. "This will be proof of your legitimate right to enter Elunos. Do not lose it at any cost." He put a great emphasis on the last few words.

He flicked his fingers and the next thing they knew, they were outside, in the stormy winds and rain of the Cyclone Forest, standing on deck of their ship. Mira was quickly surrounded by her friends, looking at the silver ring in her hand. The tiny thing was proof of their right to set foot on Elunos.

Mira didn't trust it much and closed her hand, hiding it from everyone's curious looks. "Let's tell the others we're back in one piece."

### Scarlet Lily ###

"How is the tournament proceeding?"

"Everything is proceeding smoothly, although there have been more causalities than anticipated," one of the officials of the tournament reported.

Despite working directly under her, the man was still not used to standing in the dark room. The only light source consisted of dozens of black candles. Each corner was filled with cushions and large curtains. The resting place of his mistress was just a massive pile of pillows hidden behind several sets of extraordinarily thick and long curtains.

"All demons and even the dragon were killed. There were quite a few extraordinary individuals." He bowed deeply.

The shadow of a woman's hand moved behind the curtains, taking a very long pipe. After a deep breath, a mass of smoke emerged from her mouth and dissipated in the warm air.

"Anyone in particular?" The woman inhaled the smoke from the pipe again and blew it at the curtains. The smell of dried roses and holy water began to fill the room.

"There were but two people whose magic exceeded our understanding. A woman called Irf of unknown background and origin, as well as a man called Terom, likewise of unknown background and origin." The official bowed deeply again. He'd heard the rumors that said whoever bored the mistress was never seen again, so he kept his reply short and informative.

"What amazing individuals. I shall sing the Song of Ilkadios for them upon their arrival. Make the arrangements."

The official's reply was a quick, energetic nod. He then turned around and left. He was more than happy to be out of the room. He noticed only now, but there was sand on his shoes. Being in that room room was like being in another world.

Inside that other world was just a single woman, who was now talking to herself. "I did sense her presence. But I cannot be sure." Her voice stopped as she inhaled the heavy fragrance of the smoke and listened to the sound of rain hitting the ever-closed windows.

"Leave everything to me. I have not been in this job for two thousand years for nothing. I shall deal with them."

End of Epoch IV


	5. Elunos I

**I found this on my HD, and didn't know I had it. I didn't check it thoroughly but it should be fine.**

**Scarlet Lily's**

_Epoch V_

Elunos I

"Elunos, a land with rules to be found nowhere else. A culture and history unique second to none, ruled by an immortal. A city build on the most ancient bones of the world itself and hidden in the Cyclone Forest. A land ruled by itself, separate from the rest of the world. A kingdom of darkness and pleasure, of freedom and chaos and most of all, of magic." Mira was talking to herself to pass the time. It was an exact quote from one of Levy's books.

Mirajane was steering the ship, keeping it on course while looking at the massive city in the distance. They had started to see it a few hours ago when Levy had been on duty. The isle stood there like a gigantic shadow, ready to swallow them whole. None of them had ever been to the island or knew anyone who had returned from it.

They were close to the city itself and the storms were no longer fighting the ship. Elunos itself was at the very core of the Cyclone Forest, and while it was still raining continuously in the eye of the storm, the storms were much tamer than in the layers further away from the city.

Other ships were not far, survivors of the island of Dist. Mirajane could still not believe what had happened in those caverns. Erza told her of the people she had met and fought. Mira was quite knowledgeable about demonic arts and magic, but she had never heard of magic like Irf used.

"It's... massive." Erza had come up on deck and joined Mira on her watch. She was injured but healing quickly.

"Say Erza... I've been feeling something weird for a while now. Ever since we started seeing the isle. Not fear but... as if there is something watching me. As if the island is watching me, looking right at me. Are you feeling it too?"

"I feel the same thing. I can't really explain it either but there is definitely something weird about that place."

"We're still a few a few hours away from it and look at how big it is. The town must be a gigantic labyrinth." Mirajane's bad feeling got worse and worse. Not about what awaited them or the people living there. But the very rock and structure that was Elunos.

"After Dist, I can't even imagine what is waiting for us there. I'm worried about everyone. The people I fought, especially the one summoning the sun... I just don't know if any of us can beat him. And then there is Irf... She makes the foes ahead of us look laughable." Erza stared at the unmeasurable wall before them. It was like a wall that reached up to the ceiling of the sky. No matter how far she looked up, the peaks of the town merged with the shadows of the storm clouds.

The scarlet haired knight closed her eyes and focused on her feelings. Erza's breathing changed quickly and she became more calm, trying to ignore the bad feeling the isle was stirring up inside them.

There was something. And just like Mira said, it was watching her. Something... dangerous was watching them. Erza knew right away that it was no mere coincidence. That whatever it was that looked to them was only looking at them for what they were. Alien existences in the world, minds from a different time. The island **knew**. There was no doubt about that. But how?

"What the hell is that... I've never felt anything like this. It's... threatening us." Erza's face was as pale as snow. She was not afraid of any foe that came before her, confident she could win. But this was different. There was something completely inhuman about it. Even... otherworldly.

"I can tell it's not demonic. I have a good grip on any kind of demonic aura. There's quite a few people using such magic on the island itself but... I've never felt anything like this before."

"What're you two talking about?" Gray was walking towards them, whole in his old habit of going shirtless even in a storm.

"The island." Mira answered quickly. They didn't need any more suspicion from the others. The warning Syrnafir had given them had been quite clear. Nobody was to find out who they really were. Nobody was allowed to know what the future looked like.

"Damn that thing is huge. Just how high up does it go?" Gray bend his back to look up, trying to catch a glimpse of the top but it was useless.

"You should get some rest. We'll be there soon. Erza, you too. It's not good for you to be out here." Mira faked concern for her lover, knowing full well that it took more than what she endured to stop Erza from walking around.

"There were some really crazy people back there on the labyrinth island. You think there'll be more of those?" Gray didn't budge, unable to avert his eyes from the growing ever more massive wall reaching in the sky.

"I hope not." Mira said and had an ominous feeling. If someone like Irf met one of the others in a fight, there was little doubt they would die. The same thing applied to Erza and herself. That was not something a human could fight.

With a wink from Mira, Erza dragged Gray back under deck, escaping the rain and the cold. "Get some rest. We don't know what'll happen when we set foot on that isle." Turning about, Erza walked towards her room, where she looked out of the window, staring at the other ships that had come a lot closer.

"I really hope we're both imagining things..."

### Scarlet Lily ###

"Woah, it's huge! I can't even see the ceiling!" Natsu was standing in the vast harbor of Elunos, a gigantic natural cave at the bottom of the island. Dozens of ships fit easily through the entrance, and even more were anchored, waiting for their crew to return.

"Will you shut up about it already! You're making everyone look at us like we're idiots!" Gray was right at it with Natsu.

"The hell did you say? It's big so I'm saying it's big, what's so wrong about that, huh?!"

A loud, and to the fairy tail members very characteristic, smacking sound brought both guys back to reality. "It seems you didn't get enough exercise on Dist. You will be carrying the luggage. All of it." Erza's glare looked like it would kill them if they raised objections.

The harbor itself was mostly the pier and small wooden buildings in the back with many a shady character walking in the open, brazen as the sun. The air was heavy with fog, large drops of water occasionally falling from the ceiling that was far above them, hidden in the dark of the scantily lit harbor. Many ships were showing signs of being anchored for many days, months even. And then few seemed as if they were part of the harbor itself, no longer ship but something different.

Each step made the seemingly ancient wood below their feet ache, telling tales of decades and centuries of having being treated on by people from all over the world. It was easy to get lost even in the pier, for a colossal labyrinth of stairs and platforms towered over them in the distance, some of them leading up, some of them just leading to different piers and smaller caverns.

"Stay together. If you get lost here, it's all over." Mira warned everyone just before the group from Fairy Tail was approached by two men in thick black robes, each wielding a golden staff in their left hand.

"Bearer of the Serpia Malraca mark and her allies. We're here to escort you to the arena for the welcome rite. Be aware that this is compulsory." Both of them stepped aside, turning about and waiting a few second, they walked away, closely followed by Erza and Mira, both of them acting as representatives.

As soon as they started ascending the labyrinth of stairs, they could feel warm air blowing down from above. It was a welcome change to the constantly cold and rain. After ascending higher and higher, they could finally see the ceiling of the great cavern. It was seamed with stalactites, some of then over ten meters long. It was a breathtaking view.

But it paled in comparison to what they would witness next. The wooden stairs made them pass through a massive layer of stone and that part seemed like the only one that was man-made. A layer at least thirty meters in thickness.

Erza touched the walls as she walked and even took off a gauntlet, intrigued by the stone. She never had seen material like that before. It was hard, at least as hard as granite, but completely black like the night sky. The surface was rough, scratchy and not a single sign of corrosion was visible on them as they seemed impervious to weather and time itself.

And then they reached the exit and entered what they would know of as 'City of Desire', the lowest of the three cities on Elunos. Buildings back to back, on top of each other, halfway in the ground, merged together and extended artificially, narrow streets and passageways, back alleys and escape ways were at every corner and nook.

Hundreds if not thousands of people had to live there. And in the middle of it all were rivers, coming from the ceiling so far above them that the cavern below seemed like the size of a marble in a man's fist. The rivers were no mere streams of excess water coming down from above, they were much too mighty. They deserved the term river with every drop of their being.

The water hit holes in the bottom, flowing through small natural pipes in the stone to reach either the harbor or the outside. It was an unlimited supply of fresh water available at all times for the taking. A closest river was being tapped into by a large building, at least eight times the size of any other in the proximity and there was steam rising from it's windows. The town itself was a maze to be afraid of, for buildings towered over buildings and large stone stairways were build between them. Some of those seemed to ascend as far as the ceiling itself for any trace of them was lost in darkness.

And the town did not hide why it was called the 'City of Desire'. Women were attracting 'customers' at every corner, some wearing and some bearing exotic designs. Slaves that came from countries nobody had ever heard of were often bought by Mask and then freed, so that they may live the remainder of their life as free people on Elunos. But it was not only women and girls that were offering their services. Even men, young boys and adults alike, were to be found at every corner.

"This is Elinus. Elanis and Elunios are further up. At the top, Elur, only our leader resides and entry is forbidden to all but the ones she calls to her. You may move freely through the three cities but be aware that each city has it's own set of rules and laws." The black cloaks were explaining things to Mirajane.

"Where are we going?" Mira asked, unable to restrain herself from looking around. Despite her expectations, the city was looking well. There was no reek of blood or death, no screams from the back alleys and no murderous intent to be felt. Despite it's looks of a giant whorehouse, it seemed to maintain it's order pretty well.

"To the arena, which is located in Elanis."

They arrived at a set of stairs that looked more like hundreds of snakes intervened with each other, reaching towards the sky. A tower where all walls were stairs, surrounded by even more stairs themselves. The party was at a loss of words at the sight of Elinus. No matter how high they reached, they could still tread on walkways that spun over buildings and connected to houses build on top of houses that were build yet on top of another house.

None of them could count the stairs they had walked when they reached the next layer of stone separating Elanis from Elinus below. Where below them was the City of Desire, and some may call it the city of lust, above them, with themselves in it's midst, was now the city of trade and entertainment. A uncountable number of merchants offering their wares in shops, booths, even open on the street on a carpet were present. Casino's were illuminating the otherwise dark town with their fancy magic, attracting customers. Erza believed to even see an amusement park in the far distance.

The city of entertainment and trade was proud of it's name and ability to find any item one could ever want to buy and provide any kind of amusement one could ever seek. As they marched forward, the structure of houses build upon other houses no longer surprising, they found the arena. A structure that seemed as big as all of Dist, the walls were towering so far above them that the end was yet again shrouded in the everlasting night.

"Enter here. Follow the corridor until you arrive inside the arena. You will have the pleasure of being greeted by our goddess herself." Erza found it not strange that the one person powerful enough to enforce laws and rules in cities of the nature they saw was called a goddess.

As soon as Mira stepped through the door ahead of them, a heavy chill came over her, shaking all of her body and making her lean against the wall. Recovering before any of the others noticed, Mira found herself scared of what was ahead of them. Never in her life, not even in the face of Zeref's incredible might, had she felt so scared. There was something completely inhuman at the end of that corridor. Something that was clearly not from earth-land or Edolas.

Erza hid it well but felt it too. A chill to the bones, as if something incredibly dangerous was waiting for them at the center of the arena. Could that be what the aura of Mask felt like?

None of the others seemed to take notice, in fact, they seemed excited to go and explore the city, especially Natsu. "It's possible we'll be forced to fight right after this. Everyone, stay on guard." Erza transformed into her Heaven's Wheel armor and Mirajane activated her take over. Everyone else used the chance to get into battle gear as well.

But there was no need for such. The moment Erza stepped into the open, outside the corridor, her armor dissolved, returning her to her normal clothes. Mirajane suffered the same fate, her take over being disabled by force. None of the fairy tail members could use even a shred of magic in the arena.

A quick look around and Erza understood why. All of the survivors of the Dist fight were rounded up in the middle of the arena, which was at least a kilometer at it's widest point, with the spectator ranks being so plentiful that most likely all of the three cities would find a place with ease. But most noteworthy was the large, singled out rank at the northern end. On it was nothing but a single majestic sofa.

And on that sofa was Mask. Erza had never seen someone like that before. Of all the things she had witnessed in her previous life and the current one, nothing came even remotely close. Despite the distance, she could tell. The long, flowing pitch black hair was shining like a black diamonds in the night. Her skin was as pale as still falling snow. She was tall, at least a whole head taller than she or Mirajane, and her figure was making even Erza jealous. That woman was no doubt worthy of being called goddess.

A small group of people was standing away from the others, individuals that Erza and Mira recognized. The man in heavy armor with the sun magic. Lair and Irf. And someone they had not seen before, a woman tattered clothes with dirty hair and shackles to her wrists and ankles.

"Mirajane of the Fairy Tail guild, bearer of Serpia Malraca?" A single guard, in the same clothes as the previous ones, talked to Mirajane.

"That is me." Mira touched the snake mark on her cheek. It was giving off heat as if it was getting hotter, trying to burn itself into her skin permanently.

"Follow me." Erza quickly nodded to Mira, keeping the others in check and preventing them from wandering off.

Mira's mark was a simple black snake, the position about to strike at an enemy. Lair had a mark on her shoulder, a black bull, lowering his head and stomping the ground, ready to take his enemy on his horns. The man in armor had his mark on the forehead, a black cube with numerous white spots inside.

Irf had three marks in total. The first one on her left cheek, a black piranha snarling it's teeth. Her second mark was on her left hand and it was the dragon from the lowest level. The mark was bigger than the others and the dragon mark was colored like it's real counterpart. The beast was sitting on his treasure hoard. Irf's third mark was a winged beast, looking unlike any animal Mira know of. Tiny legs, two large wings and a distorted, round body.

Mira tried to find a mark on the body of the woman wearing the worn clothes, but she couldn't spot anything.

Mira said not a word to the other four, just as they kept quiet. They all knew they would be pulverized instantly if they started fighting physically after magic had been disabled.

The audience suddenly fell silent as if something of epic proportions was about to happen. As Mira looked up, she saw Mask standing on the very edge of her platform, looking down on her.

And then she could hear her voice. A voice that was not human. Too clear, too fine, too graceful, it was the voice that brought one to zen just by being heard.

"Welcome, wizards and sorceresses of the world! Welcome to the isle of Elunos, and the games of eternal night. You who haven proven against all odds that even hell itself cannot best you and your comrades have attained the right to participate in the games. No words have been said about the prize of the games, no words will be said. For there is only one truth to them. There is only one chance for you to attain what you can gain here and nothing else in this world will grant you what the games will."

Mask made a meaningful break. The people living in the three cities were no doubt familiar with the cryptic message as there was cheering from the crowd. Mira saw no reaction from the other four. They likely knew nothing about this, just like she knew nothing.

Mask raised her left hand and the crowd went silent. The only noise came from the rivers that were flowing down from above. Nobody said as much as a single word. And then Mira understood why. As Mask opened her mouth again, a beautiful melody, a full orchestra with choir, filled the air.

Mira couldn't understand the language Mask was singing in, but there was no doubt what the melody was about. She understood it with her senses, the very primal instinct every human being was born with. A song about the creation of the world, when time was not yet flowing and the stars had not been born yet. A story so ancient that time itself did not remember it, that the bones of the planet had long forgotten and not even the oldest beings on the planet had ever dreamed of such a time.

The song was ungodly beautiful. Mira listened to it with such intent that the rest of the world seemed completely meaningless compared. As long as she could hear the song, her life was complete.

And then it ended. Absolute silence reigned supreme over the arena and all of the isle when Mask's song ended. Without another word, the goddess left behind masses of people who had just witnessed a glimpse of true paradise.

Minutes passed before the crowd broke out in booming cheers and whistling, calling to their goddess. Several guards approached the five with the marks and led them away. Mira rejoined with Erza, who looked just as touched as she herself.

A set of four guards, one of them with a black staff instead of a golden one, led the fairy tail team away. "You have been granted the ability to remain on Elunos. Be aware that violating the rules of a city will revoke the right and your body will subsequently rot in less than twenty-four hours. As this will be told everyone, there might be side effects due to the 'Serenade of Isasir' you just heard. This can take the shape of anything but will only last for either two weeks or as long as you remain on Elunos."

"You are free to walk the three cities. Your quarters are here in Elanis. You will be shown to them shortly. Each participant receives ten thousand jolt, the currency we deal with here. The mark bearer will receive a bonus of five hundred thousand jolt. The final matches will begin in five days, and you will be informed on their nature then. Welcome to the country of night."

A different guard approached Mirajane and asked her and the others to follow him. Out of the arena, past masses of people trying to catch a glimpse of the wizards that would soon be fighting for the grand prize in Elunos. The town itself was an maze impossible to navigate alone. Mira could already see several of her friends getting horribly lost.

They arrived at a large hotel, directly in front of one of the rivers from above. "This place has been reserved as your quarters and base of operations for the duration of your stay in Elunos. You will find someone that explains the various laws of Elunos to you inside."

Turning about without another word, the guard vanished in the stream of people that walked the streets. A casino, much to Erza's delight, was right around the corner, and so were several shops and other entertainment booths. The entire city was a giant carnival.

The building itself was made of the same unknown stone-like material that Erza had touched on their way up to Elanis. The doors made of wood, so ancient that it had hardened far beyond regular stone and yet remained smooth. Natsu shoved the door open, eager to see what the inside was like.

It seemed almost like a palace. The ground was polished so well that it acted as a giant mirror. Walls and furniture looked like straight out of a mansion or a king's private quarters. Not a single soul, except a sole waitress, was inside.

"Welcome, participants of the grand tournament. I hope you will enjoy your stay. If you need or desire anything, please ring the magic bell that has been placed in every room. One of our staff will see to you then." The waitress bowed slightly and lead the group further inside. They were speechless before the splendor inside the hotel.

"I ask the representatives of your group to step forward, so I might inform him or her of the unique rules you will need to abide by in the three towns." They stopped at the end of the big entrance hall, most of them still eying the room itself. Erza and Mira stepped forward, sharing the responsibility of the representative.

"There are but two rules in Elanis. First, you may not slay or harm anyone that is not your blood-kin. Secondly, you may not take anyone against their will to or from the City of Desire. In violation of those rules, the island itself will punish you by revoking your right to stay and your body will rot in twenty-four hours. The rot will continue to spread even if you escape the island."

"Our body will... rot?" Erza wasn't sure she quite understood.

"Your body will be rotting while you are still alive and your consciousness will be trapped in the last decaying parts. Most who break the rules kill themselves before the rot claims their hands, as it is a fate much worse than death."

The atmosphere in the room took a deep dive when everyone that listened started to understand that breaking a single rule was either a death sentence or even worse. Erza grabbed Natsu on his head and forced him to listen. "Natsu. There is no way back if you start a fight here. There is no way to save you. So keep your flames in check." Erza's voice was low and cold, making clear that it was no joke.

"Here in Elanis, there are additional rules to those in Elinus. You may not refuse to pay for a service you have used. You also may not steal from those that have less than you. And finally, above us in Elunios, the city of serene, you may not incite anger or dislike willingly. Tread carefully, for the city of serene is a place to let your soul rest after being to the City of Desire and the city of trade and entertainment. Above Elunios, you have no place, for this is where our goddess resides. To simply go there is breaking our most important law."

The waitress directed the group towards a large stair. "You will find your room upstairs. The rooms are the same all alike, except for the room at the end of the corridor, which is reserved for the representative. As there has never been more than one and we cannot ignore this tradition, I must ask you to bear with it and share the room"

"If you need me for anything or have questions, please ring the bell."

The waitress left and moved to a room behind the counter, leaving the group to their own devices.

"This island is nuts. If you break a rule it makes your body rot while you're still alive? That's monstrous." Gray wasn't quite pleased with things as they were.

"It explains why this island has existed for likely hundreds if not thousands of years. The people who break the rules die. That leaves only those faithful to the few rules they have." Lisanna wasn't feeling happy about the capital punishment either, but she wasn't keen to do anything that broke the rules.

"I wanna see the rooms!" Natsu was the only one whose spirit was untouched by the danger of rotting away living.

A total of ten and one rooms were on the second floor. There was a third floor as well, but it was quickly decided to stay together. Erza and Mira took the room at the end of the second floor together while Lisanna took the right, Levy the left, room at the end of the hallway. Elfman took the room next to Lisanna, Bisca the room next to Levy. Alzack the room next to Bisca, Natsu the room next to Elfman. Laki took the room next to Natsu and Miki the one on the other side. Cana took the room next to Laki and Gray the one across the floor.

The rooms itself were more plain than the outside made one think. Although the beds may have been very comfortable and big, the windows grand and the glass crystal clear, the shelves and the wardrobe made of pitch black noble wood... there was something about the rooms that told them they were in a different world.

It slowly hit them. Nothing of the common sense of Fiore, even of most of Earth-land, none of their experience with other people and cultures meant anything in this place. Elunos was a world on it's own, a place different from the world they knew.

Erza and Mira's room was only slightly different. Everything was a bit bigger, a bit more expensive. The bed was still not made for two people, but that posed little problem. Erza kept most of her clothes on her persona at all times, so it mattered little that she had to share the only actual wardrobe with Mira. The bed was located right at the southern end of the room, directly opposed to the door. Right and left of it were two windows. The wardrobe was at the western wall and a big shelf at the east wall.

Mira stood near the eastern window and looked out in the darkness. A city where the sun was but a myth and all light came from magic lanterns and lights placed around the city. It seemed impossible to even imagine never seen the sun again. "What do we do now? They said the matches won't start for a few days."

"I have a bad feeling about this town. The people you met at the arena, the ones with the marks, they must be here too. What do you think of them?" Erza sat down on the bed. It was so comfortable that it didn't even compare to the bed she owned at the Fairy Hills dorm.

"I only met them briefly but... I have a pretty good idea of who is who. The woman with three marks must be Irf. The man was clearly the one unleashing the sun magic both in the ocean fight and in the deepest layer of Dist. The other two women... one was in tatters the other wore a lot of jewelry. That was the one you described as Lair, right?"

"What did you think of Irf?"

"I couldn't feel anything because of the magic ban in the arena. But her eyes... I heard that in the eastern world, some say the eyes are the mirror of the soul. I can barely imagine what kind of rotten soul rests in that body."

"She is more demon than human. Or even worse. Some ungodly apparition made of hell itself. I cut her. I stabbed her. And she came back like my swords were mere toothpicks tickling her. Not even Zeref's monsters were like that. Even they could die. But this... I will warn the others later that if they are to fight against Irf, they need to forfeit the match. Lair was strong enough to kill one of those demons, and even the two of us couldn't even dent Irf."

"You're scaring me Erza." Mira had never heard the knight talk about forfeiting a fight before.

"I am scared of her. I've never felt this way about an opponent before. I've fought some hard battles. I came close to dying a couple of times. But I believe that it was nothing short of a miracle that I escaped Irf. Whatever she is..." Erza clenched her armored fist and looked at the ground, her eyes showing that she saw a glimpse of hell on earth.

"That spell... those black towers that almost destroyed the lowest level in Dist. That was her doing, wasn't it?"

"Irf... just what in the world is she?"

Silence brooded over them like an ill omen and it only passed when someone knocked on the door. "Representative of Fairy Tail, you have a visitor." It was the voice of the waitress that had greeted them in the entrance hall.

Mira opened the door. "Your visitor is waiting in the entrance hall. Be aware that it is prohibited to fight anyone that is not related to you by blood." The waitress walked down the corridor, leaving Mira and Erza to wonder about the warning.

"I have a feeling I know who this visitor is." Erza got up and walked past Mira, waiting for her at the end of the corridor. There was no one else in the hotel, so it was not needed to lock the door.

"I knew it'd be you. How did you find us so fast?" Erza was standing a few meters away from her visitor, a woman she had come to know in Dist.

"I'm a very resourceful woman, you know that Erza." Lair, one of the mark bearers, proof to have killed one of the demons in Dist, was standing before Erza and Mira.

"You've been told of the laws?" Erza was questioning her intent to fight.

"I'm not here to fight. I'm not that much of a fool. And to our luck, even Irf is not immune to this islands rules. But that is also why I'm here. By the way, who is this?" Lair pointed at Mirajane.

"I'm Mirajane." Stepping forward and facing Lair close up, Mira could feel a tremendous amount of magic flowing around her. Her artifacts must be numerous and powerful indeed, just as Erza described it.

"I see you're one of the mark bearers too. I'm surprised Erza doesn't have one. Well, that doesn't matter. I'm here to propose an alliance. None of us stand a chance against Irf, and I'm not sure if we do even together."

"What kind of alliance?" Erza sternly looked at Lair.

"To kill Irf. To make her break the rules. Whatever works to remove her from the fight. No matter which one of us fights her, we don't stand a snowball in hell's chance. We survived in Dist because we got away. In that arena, you cannot run. I asked the guards and while the rules don't state you have to kill your enemy to win, you and I know that Irf will surely shred anyone to pieces. I'm not crazy enough to try my luck and fight her."

"Who else have you asked?"

"My own team is obviously agreeing with me. I'm the representative of Deus. Don't ask, the name was decided by majority vote. I'm not going to ask any of you to join up with us at this point, but it's in all of our best interests that we get rid of Irf."

"We'll think about it. I have to talk over this with my guild first." Erza's response came quick and firm. There was no doubt that this was their only chance to avoid fighting Irf without giving up. Erza was not one to resort to shady tricks, but she had learned the hard way that some things could not be resolved with just bravery and courage.

"You, Serpia bearer, you have seen the man in armor with the mark on his forehead, haven't you?"

"I did. What about him?"Mira was confused why Lair brought him up now.

"His name is Tambarn Mort. His sun magic is a kind of lost magic called Daylight. I was unable to find out where he is from but he's about as much mystery figure as Irf. I recommend staying away from him. He turned down our offer, saying that such measures are not necessary. I can't figure out what the hell he meant, but that's that. Don't think too long." Lair turned around and waved as she left the hotel.

"What pleasant company." Mira let out a sarcastic remark and looked to Erza. "What do we do? If this Irf is this terrifying, I say we take her out any means we have. I've seen enough terrible things happen to our guild."

"It's not as easy as that. Lair is much more shrewd than you can imagine. There is some trick to this. She's just not after taking out Irf. I can tell. Let's go back to our room. I don't feel comfortable talking about this here."

"Did she figure out that we're lovers?" Mira was curious just show shrewd Lair really was.

"She only knows we're Titania. Judging from her reaction, she didn't even know what you looked like until now. But it's hard to tell what is true and what is fake with her. This might all be her elaborate plot to come out as winner of this tournament. I wouldn't put it past her. That's the kind of woman she is." They walked past upstairs, only to run right into Natsu, Elfman, Lisanna and Cana, who were heading out.

"Where are you going?" Erza stood in their way, blocking the path.

"We're gonna check out the town! I wanna go to the amusement park we saw on the way here!" Natsu was like a small child when it came to such things.

"Don't forget that if you start a fight, it's all over Natsu. I can't babysit you all the time. Lisanna, Cana, keep an eye on him." Erza was unnaturally harsh with Natsu because this time, any mistake meant inevitable death.

"You're talking like I'm always picking fights!" Natsu was complaining right away but shut up the second he saw the look in Erza's eyes. They were not the same eyes that scolded him when he burned down or destroyed a building on a mission. Those were the eyes of someone giving one last warning. "...I got it. Jeez, I'll behave. No need to look at me like that."

Mira pushed Erza past the group and looked at Natsu. "She's just worried. Don't hold it against her." Even Mira thought that the red haired woman had been a bit too harsh. Natsu wasn't stupid. A little gullible maybe but not stupid.

She could hear Lisanna talking to Natsu before she pushed Erza into their room. "My sister and Erza are right. We can't pick any fights with the people here or it'll really be the end of us."

Closing the door behind her, Mira looked at Erza, who slowly walked over to the window. "I don't think they realize what a danger we are all in. I'm sure these rules apply to everyone, but do you really think Natsu is able to hold back if someone picks a fight with him, even knowing it'll kill him?"

"You underestimate Natsu. In our old time, you've been in one team with him. You should know better than this, Erza."

"Because I know him so well is why I'm so worried. Natsu is the type to act first and think later." Erza could feel Mira hug her from behind, resting her head against Erza's back.

"You worry too much. Cana and Lisanna are with him. They'll smack him good if he starts anything. And I think they had the right idea. We have a lot of money, I think, because of this mark I got, so we should go and have some fun. How does the casino sound?"

The atmosphere changed almost instantly. Mira had never known about it, but Erza was quite the gambling addict and skilled on top of it. "Did I just her a... 'ka-ching' like sound?" Mira stepped back when Erza used her magic to transform.

A purple dress, white gloves, her hair put up, Erza looked every bit a high-class lady, much to Mira's surprise. "You had that in one of your bags? Kinda racy, I like it." Giving Erza a lustful look, Mira now regretted that she didn't pack clothes like that.

"Racy?" Erza looked down on herself. She was showing a bit of skin but Mira had told her repeatedly that she had little sense of shame and what kind of clothes was appropriate. In general, her fashion sense was a little weird sometimes, according to Mira.

"You don't happen to have one more of those? I'm not sure I want to show up in a casino looking like some worn adventurer." Mira took another step back and looked at Erza with obvious pleasure. Despite the constant armor and fighting, Erza was really beautiful.

"You want black or red?" Out of thin air, two dresses of the same cut as the one Erza was wearing appeared in the knights hands. Erza was **very** fond of casino's so the mere mention of going there overruled most of her concerns.

"I'll take the black one, thanks. But... Erza, I think you should take a shower or something before we go. We both reek of sea water and rain. A **lot**. I'm surprised Lisanna and Cana went out like that."

"I don't see a bathroom though. Maybe they're in the basement? I'll ask the waitress. She said we should call her if we need something." Erza looked around for a bit and then found the bell mentioned by the waitress before sitting on a small drawer right next to the bed. Ringing it produced not a single tune but in mere seconds, someone knocked on the door. "A magical bell huh..."

Mira opened the door and looked at the maid. There was not even a hint that she had hurried to the room or out of breath. "We noticed there are no bathrooms. Is there some place we can take a shower?" Mira had left the black dress on the bed, thinking it'd be bad if the dress started to reek of sea water as well.

"There is a bath house right behind this hotel. There is a fee of twenty jolt to pay per person for the public bath, or hundred jolt for a private bathing room. Is that all?"

Mira was shoved aside quickly by Erza who, from Mira's perspective, had a very peculiar look in her eyes. One that clearly said 'Money'. "I'd like to know where the casino with the highest stakes is located."

Mira secretly thought that if Erza had any kind of problem then it was gambling. But if it helped her relax a bit... maybe relax was the wrong word. Whatever Erza was doing now that stopped her from worrying then, was a good thing.

"That would be the Ilastor Grand Royal. However, entrance to the Ilastor is restricted to it's members. A membership costs five million jolt for one year, which two and a half million jolt as the minimum joining sum for a membership of half a year. If you are seeking a high stakes game, I recommend the 'Manticore', a casino located nearby that allows it's patrons to play at high stakes."

Mira wasn't sure how to handle Erza when she was like that, but odds were that Erza was about to storm off and head for the casino before she took a bath. Grabbing Erza by her wrist and pulling her away from the waitress, Mira walked down the corridor. "That's all for now. Thank you. We'll be back later." Erza was struggling a little, but it reminded Mira more of a kid that had been told to go and wash their hands before they were allowed to go and play. "It's really cute how you're acting like Natsu, Erza." Mira sometimes liked to tease her lover a bit. "**Really** cute." Mira couldn't help but giggle over the now shocked Erza.

"People tend to tell me that I'm a bit over enthusiastic with gambling. You think so too? And what do you mean, I'm acting like Natsu? How rude." Erza was still being dragged along and she was fully aware it was utterly useless to struggle.

"That, that's exactly it. That way of acting and your blazing disregard for anything else as soon as you hear casino. I remember Lucy talking about this once now that I think about it. I'd never have imagined you had a side like this to you." Mira was in a state of constant smiling and grinning, much to Erza dismay.

"I usually don't get to go to such places, so maybe I get a little overexcited. But I'm not acting like Natsu. Who do you take me for, making jokes like that?"

"I wish I could record this and show it to you later. I'd be hilarious to see you react. Is this it?" Mira had dragged Erza around the building once, passing a small bridge and a cluster of stairs converging nearby to find a large building that was incredibly long but not very high. It was entirely made of wood and read "Kalapo", which didn't mean anything in any of the languages Mira spoke. There was a steady stream of people coming in and out of the building, most wearing very light clothing like robes and or cloaks.

"You don't need to drag me in there, I'll go willingly." Erza had given up on the idea of heading to the casino first. Mira would have made her a head shorter if she really ran away. The two headed inside and found two large counter with, one to the left, one to the right, separated by a wall that reached from ground to ceiling. A huge painting was on the front of the wall, explaining in several languages that the men's bath was to the left, the women's bath to the right.

As soon as they walked up to the counter to the right, they were greeted by a women that wore nothing but a white cloth over her breasts and groin. A kind of primitive bikini. They quickly noticed why. There was a lot of heat coming from the inside.

"Welcome to Kalapo. How may I help you?" The clerk seemed quite friendly.

"Two times the public bath please." Mira didn't care for any secrecy while they were in some kind of unknown city where nobody had ever heard of them. Out here, she could hold hands, snuggle and kiss Erza all she wanted in public or not.

"That comes to forty jolt. Are you visitors for the grand games?" The clerk handed them a small wooden casket for their clothes and belongings as well as two large towels.

"We're participants." Erza answered and took one of the caskets.

"I wish you good luck. If you ever feel tired, visit us here at Kalapo to relax." That woman knew very well how to sell her products.

"Thanks, we'll do that." Mira followed after Erza. The entrance room led into a changing room that had many wooden cabins where one could change. Despite Mira's best efforts, Erza stopped her from using the same cabin she did. Those things were not made for two people. Erza had a much easier time than Mira with undressing, simply storing her clothes in her magical wardrobe. But it seemed wrong to just leave nothing in the casket so she put her dress there.

Mira was waiting outside, wrapped into the long towel. To avoid knots, she had already let down her hair. Erza rarely got to see Mira with her hair down now, so it was a nice little change of view. Even now, a lot of women entered and left the bath at all times. And as soon as they went into the main room, they understood why.

The bath was enormous and even that was an understatement. The room was at least a hundred meters long, with stone benches in place, mirrors placed on the wooden walls to the east and for almost the entire length of the room, a large stone bath was filling up most of the room. A hundred people could have fit easily in there and still have had more than three or so meters personal space. Leaving their things near the northern end of the room in a big wooden shelf, they entered the bath. A quick look revealed that nobody seemed to care if one went in fully naked or with towel.

While Erza didn't like the idea of going naked, Mira was less prude about it and grinned at Erza the whole time. "I don't get why you're hiding your body. You got stunning looks, why not show them off?" Pulling halfheartedly on Erza's towel only earned her a glare from the knight. Showing her body to others was not something she enjoyed. If it was Mira or even Lucy or the other girls in Fairy Tail that was one thing, but to do so in public in an foreign city, that wasn't quite her thing.

"It feels like forever ago that I took a nice, hot bath. This water is a bit weird, though. It's so unnaturally clear and doesn't seem to get any colder even if you cup it in your hand. They got some weird magic here."

They moved further to the edge of the bath and leaned against the wall. The bath itself had varying depths but most of it was only about a meter deep, so one could sit or kneel down and enjoy the warmth.

Erza was leaned half against the wall, half against Mira. Her casino mania had faded but would undoubtedly return soon. Erza got startled when she felt something slimy run over her face and quickly opened her eyes. The only thing she could see was Mira's eyes, who was smiling wide.

Without giving Erza a chance to escape, Mira gave Erza a passionate kiss in the middle of the bath. It didn't surprise her that no one paid any attention to them. They weren't the only one to do that sort of thing there.

Erza struggled for a few seconds before she gave in and enjoyed it. They went at it again seconds later and it took them not more than five minutes until Mira was sitting on Erza's lap, her arms wrapped around the knights neck, their foreheads leaned against each other, both of them happily smiling.

"Uhh..." Someone that stood right behind Mira was trying to get their attention. Erza looked up and lost a bit of the color in her face. Levy was there, red as a tomato. "You might want to look out. All the girls are here. Miki and Laki are having a water fight further in the back where there's less people and Cana and Lisanna are cheering them on. I just happened to pass by and thought I'd have mixed you up, but it's really you two."

"This is..." Erza couldn't get a word out. Caught red-handed.

"Don't worry, I've known for a while after all. I'm not going to tell anyone, but you'll better... sit at least side by side." Levy averted her eyes, very thankful that Mira was facing Erza and she could only see her bare back. None of the other girls, except Miki, had actually come without a towel. Levy was really weak against racy stuff, and a naked Mirajane sitting on top of Erza was more than enough to qualify as 'racy'.

Erza shoved Mira down, who looked a bit disappointed. "When did you girls get here? We met Lisanna, Cana, Natsu and Elfman earlier, but when did you three get here?"

Levy sat down next to Erza, trying to get the image of naked Mirajane out of her head. "Actually, Laki and Miki sort of kidnapped me. They said I should at least take a bath before I go to sleep. We just happened to bump into the other two in here. I don't know where she got it from but Cana is having fun with some weird liquor. I felt weird after getting just one sniff of it."

"Say Levy, do you think we make a good couple?" Mira was leaning a bit over Erza, looking at the bookworm, who again averted her eyes. Seeing people she didn't know naked wasn't that bad, but Mirajane was quite sexy and she knew her well, so it was a bit of a problem. Levy had quite the vivid imagination after all.

"You're the embodiment of shameless, Mira." Erza shook her head and gave Levy that certain look people use to tell them to forget about something. It's not that she wasn't in the least curious how other people viewed their relationship or what they thought of it but rather that she didn't want to put Levy in the tight spot of answering that question where they were right now.

"Oh come on Erza. It's not like Levy doesn't know about what we're doing at night." Mira was quickly made shut up when Erza put a hand on her mouth.

"A year ago I'd never have thought you two would make a nice couple. You were always fighting and had this rivalry thing going. I bet everyone else would be really surprised as well. Although most of us do speculate every now and then if there is actually something between you two." Levy still smiled not despite but because of the antics going on between the two S rank wizards.

"Lisanna told me a while ago. I also heard something about a bet going on in the guild?" Leaned on Erza, Mira couldn't actually see Levy, and even though there was quite the noise of chit chat and laughter in the large bath, it was easy enough to understand her.

"Nobody knows who started it, but there's a bet about whether you have something going on or not. I hear Miki is actually jealous of Erza." Levy couldn't help but giggle at the thought of Miki and Mira together.

"Miki eh... It's not really that I'm into women. It's the same thing for you Erza, right?" Mira looked at the ceiling above them and finally found out that there was a extremely large lacrima spanning over the entire room. It was relatively thin but gave of a red shimmer. It seemed so natural that the room was well lit that she didn't think twice of it. That lacrima must be the source.

"If I wasn't together with Mira, I'd be single. I don't know of anyone in the guild or outside the guild I'd go out with." Erza followed Mira's gaze and discovered the lacrima as well.

"Eh, that's surprising. I actually thought you two were into women even before I found out about you two. I mean, you're just the type for that. Strong, a leader figure, in Erza's case also responsible and then there's the whole thing about being stronger than any of the guys in the guild." Levy counted those things on her fingers and earned shocked faces from the other two.

"Do others really see us like that?" Erza seemed a bit depressed.

"I'm irresponsible?" Mira seemed a bit down as well.

"Ah... forget I said anything. I'm not really sure anyone else looked at you like that." Levy was suddenly very embarrassed and tried to change the subject.

"I at least thought sis wasn't interested in romance at all. Levy, you're been gone so long, the others are wondering where the heck you went. Cana is on a roll and made Laki drink some of her alcohol. We're gonna have to carry her out later. After she's done having a towel fight with Miki. You're missing out."

The three sitting women looked up and saw Mirajane's little sister standing there, steaming from the hot water, her skin shinning. "How much of the conversation did you get, Lisanna?" Mira wasn't as comfortable talking about her relationship with Erza in front of her sister as she made people believe.

"Only that last part. Did I miss any saucy details?" Mira blushed as soon as her sister said those words and fixated her look on Levy, trying to tell her with sheer force of mind to go and take Lisanna away.

"I'll better get back to the others. We'll probably leave soon, so... you know." Levy didn't finish that sentence, her face getting redder with the second. At least she could put the fault for that on the hot water and towel.

The two younger girls trotted away slowly and left behind two mentally suddenly very exhausted women. "It's moment's like these that I wish I could just turn invisible."

"I remember how much it took you to actually tell her about us and then stand answer to her thousand questions. You looked like you had just fought off a whole army alone afterwards." Erza remembered that day quite vividly.

"I can't lie to her when she gives me that one look and her questions really hit home, you know. You were close to Lucy, what would it be like if she suddenly asked you about every little tidbit of our relationship?" Bullseye.

"See, not a pleasant idea." Mira leaned back against the wall and examined the lacrima at the ceiling a bit more. Lacrima were used in all of earth-land and even Edolas for various purposes, but she had never seen one as delicate as the one she was looking at. "Say, how do you suppose they make those lacrima's here?"

"They probably ship them in. There were easily over a hundred ships down in the harbor. There is probably no safer place to open shop than here after all. If your customer doesn't pay you, he'll rot away living."

"Saying it like that, it does make a lot of sense. The outside is really dark but inside houses it's usually well lit. I didn't see any obvious lacrima in the hotel though, how do you think they're doing it there?"

"Not sure. In the walls maybe? The others are coming, look." Erza pointed at the edge of a foggy steam wall in the distance and a couple of girls were carrying two more girls away.

"I didn't think I'd live to see the day Cana being passed out from alcohol." Mira laughed and pointed at the brunette women, being carried by one shoulder each from Lisanna and Levy, who were a little aching from the heat and the exercise of carrying someone through the hot bath. Laki was being carried by Miki, piggyback style. The wood magician was looking very terrible, even for the standards of drunks.

"What the heck were they drinking?" Erza seemed a bit weirded out that Cana managed to pick some ridiculous kind of liquor out to drink in the bath right off the bat.

"We'll bring those two back to the hotel. And I think I'm gonna enjoy a real good sleep in a bed on solid ground after that." Levy said while the small group passed Erza and Mira.

"I'll be doing the same. Sis, we're going up ahead. Don't soak too long, you'll turn into a sponge." Lisanna joked. Miki was no longer running around naked and had stolen Laki's towel. She had heard that Mirajane was there, and she didn't like the idea of running into her naked.

"Sounds like a good idea." Mira looked after the group and was then attacked by a harsh glare from her lover. "I won't go back alone, don't worry. I kind of wanna see you gambling. The way you acted about it, you'll better be one hell of a winner."

"You won't be disappointed." Erza's grin was, in the truest sense of the word, golden.

### Scarlet Lily ###

"How may we serve you, goddess?" A small group of men and women in clothes dark as the night were kneeling in the audience chamber of Elur, the forbidden citadel of Elunos. Behind a curtain of black silk, a single women was laying on a cushioned pedestal.

"I sense her touch in my city. Her, the traitor, whose name has been erased from all of time and history. Something she has touched has entered. I want to know who or what it is. It might be an artifact, a ship, a simple object or even a person. Find them. Bring them to me. I shall see for myself what she has done."

"As you wish." And they were gone. Servants, only answering to Mask herself, a group of the selected people to receive her blessing and know who Mask really was.

No ordinary or even extraordinary magician had the power that Mask had. Even the black mage Zeref paled in comparison to her. But there was a huge drawback to her power. Mask could never leave Elunos, could never leave the island, for she was eternally bound.

But it did bother her not. For it was beyond her to meddle in the affairs of mortals and their short lives. A decade, a century, those were just measures humans came up with to scale the most immeasurable force of all: Time.

"Shall I inform Firalneth of this? Is this not the first time she has made a move in over five centuries?" A woman with long, silver hair was standing in front of the curtain, quietly awaiting an answer.

"Ila, have you been around humans for so long that you now think like one? A century is merely a measure of time the humans made up long ago. And Firaneth has no say in this as the guardian of the western gate. For **her** powers to tread upon my holy ground, only I will deal with this."

The room was dominated by an eerie silence.

"You remember it as well, don't you, Ila?"

"Her name, who was supposed to be erased from all of time and history. The name of the traitor to the gates, who has committed an unspeakable sin. I remember."

End of Epoch V


End file.
